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MmiNG-CAMPS. 

A    STUDY    IN    AMERICAN    FRONTIER 
GOVERNMENT. 


mmm  camps 


A  Study  in  American  Frontier  Government 


BY 


CHARLES   HOWARD  ^HINN 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1885 


CoPYTtlGHT,  1884,   BY 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


Add»I 


BLECTROTTPED  AND  PRINTED 

BY    BAND,    AVERY,    AND  COMPANY, 

BOSTON. 


5  5-^ 

cof>-z 


etication. 


TO    MY   FRIENDS   IN    CALIFORNIA. 


M909021 


PEEFAOE. 


Few  undertakings  of  my  busy  life  have  brought  me  more 
pleasure  than  the  group  of  studies  linked  together  in  this 
volume.  They  were  begun  and  carried  to  completion  while 
I  was  a  student  at  this  university ;  and  if  they  possess  any 
value,  it  is  chiefly  because  of  the  spirit  of  original  investiga- 
tion fostered  here  in  every  department  of  knowledge. 

Since  I  am  about  to  send  this  volume  to  the  press,  I  desire, 
with  sincere  respect  and  affection,  to  place  on  record  my 
sense  of  personal  obligations  to  President  D.  C.  Gilman, 
Professor  Gildersleeve,  Professor  Paul  Haupt,  Dr.  H.  B. 
Adams,  and  Dr.  Richard  Ely,  of  Johns  Hopkins ;  to  Presi- 
dent W.  T.  Reid  and  Professor  Cook  of  the  University  of 
California;  and  to  Dr.  Josiah  Royce  of  Harvard, — all  of 
whom  have  helped  me  by  the  loan  of  pamphlets,  by  advice, 
and  by  their  cordial  interest  in  the  undertaking. 

CHARLES  HOWARD  SHINN,  A.B. 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore, 
December,  1884. 

vii 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGH 

Scope  of  the  Present  Investigation 1 

CHAPTER  H. 

Ancient  and  MedifBval  Mining-Systems.  —  The  Codes  of  the 
Twelfth  and  Thirteen  Centuries. — Germanic  Mining-Free- 
dom    10 

CHAPTER  HI. 

Customs  of  Cornwall.  —  Stannary-Courts,  Bar-Motes,  and  Tin- 
Bounds      25 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Early  Mining  in  the  United  States         ...       .o.      37 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Spanish- American  System  of  Government. — Mining-Laws 

of  Mexico 47 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Missions  of  the  Pacific  Coast 59 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Spanish  Town-Government.  —  The  Pueblo  in  California     .        .      72 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  Study  of  Alcaldes 83 

ix 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE 

CalifomiaCamps.  — TheDaysof '48 105 

CHAPTER  'X. 
The  Earliest  Mining-Courts,  and  their  Influence  on  State  Life    .    123 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Golden  Prime  of  '49 132 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Evidence  concerning  Law  and  Order  in  the  Camps      .       .        .    150 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Illustrations  from  Early  and  Successful  Camp  Organizations       .     165 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Forms  of  District  Government.  — Folk-Moot,  Standing-Commit- 
tee, and  Alcalde 176 

CHAPTER  XV. 
How  an  Alcalde  was  once  deposed 190 

CHAPTER  XVL 
The  Miners'  Justice  of  the  Peace 199 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Organization  of  Town  Governments  by  the  Miners      .        .        .    206 

CHAPTER  XVm. 
The  Difficulties  with  Foreigners  in  Various  Camps      .        .        .212 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Famous  Scotch-Bar  Decision 219 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Sporadic  Organizations.  —  Cases  of  Mob-Law      ....    225 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

PAGE 

Local  Land  Laws  and  Legislation  from  1848  to  1884     .        .        .    232 

CHAPTER  XXn. 

The  Early  Relationships  of  Mining  and  Agricultural  Interests    .    259 

CHAPTER  XXIIL 

Decisions  of  California  and  Other  Courts  respecting  Local  Laws 

and  Customs     .        .        .       , 270 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  Extension  and  Permanent  Influence  of  Mining-Camp  Law  .    279 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Effects,  Social  and  Intellectual,  upon  Western  Development       .    287 


AuTHOEiTiES  Consulted 299 

Index 309 


MmmG-CAMPS. 

A    STUDY    IN    AMERICAN    FRONTIER 
GOVERNMENT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SCOPE  OF  THE  PRESENT  INVESTIGATION. 

The  following  pages  deal  largely  with  ancient,  medi- 
aeval, and  modern  mining-laws,  and  with  the  life  of 
mining-camps ;  but  this  is  solely  for  their  value  as  con- 
tributions to  American  political  science  and  American 
institutional  history.  The  proposed  investigation  is  as 
far  removed,  on  the  one  hand,  from  a  technical  history 
of  mining,  as  it  is  removed,  on  the  other  hand,  from 
a  digest  of  mining-decisions.  It  is  primarily  a  study 
of  the  mining-camp  commonwealths ;  that  is,  of  those 
States  and  Territories  in  the  remote  West  whose  devel- 
opment has  been  under  conditions  widely  different  from 
those  that  prevailed  on  the  Atlantic  slope  and  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  It  is  also  a  study  of  the  Spanish 
land-system  in  Mexico  and  in  California,  and  of  the 
relations  of  priest,  alcalde,  and  commandante,  in  mis- 
sion, pueblo,  and  presidio;  for  otherwise  the  place  of 
the  true  mining-camp;  as  a  nucleus  of  most  effective 
organization,  cannot  be  fully  understood.     It  is  an  at- 

1 


2  MINING-CAMPS. 

tempt  to  break  ground  in  a  comparatively  new  field, 
and  to  examine  the  laws  and  customs,  not  of  primitive 
pastoral  nor  of  primitive  agricultural  communities,  but 
of  the  workers  in  ores,  and  the  toilers  in  auriferous 
river-sands. 

The  best  thoughts  of  such  writers  as  Maine,  Seebohm, 
Nasse,  the  Von  Maurers,  Laveleye,  Kovalevsky,  have 
been  devoted  to  studies  of  early  land-tenure.  Patiently 
they  have  examined  the  traces  of  village  communities ; 
of  common  lands,  "  Wald,  Weide,  and  Wiese;^^  of  the 
prehistoric  "three-field  system,"  whose  rude  crop-rota- 
tion the  Teutonic  farmers  have  followed,  with  various 
modifications,  since  the  days  of  village  moot  assemblies 
by  the  Frisian  Sea  and  on  the  Swabian  Mountains ;  and 
of  the  Russian  Mir,  Swiss  Landesgemeinde,  and  old 
Teutonic  field  meetings,  —  all  of  them  primitive  social 
organizations,  and  sources  of  such  institutions  as  Saxon 
territorial  tithings,  English  parish  assemblies,  and  New- 
England  town  meetings.  For  men  of  our  Germanic 
race  this  line  of  investigation  is,  doubtless,  the  widest 
and  most  important  one  that  institutional  history  offers ; 
but  we  shall  do  well  to  remember  that  all  beginnings 
of  government  and  society  are  valuable  to  the  student, 
and  that,  since  the  days  of  Tubal  Cain,  the  arts  of 
mining  have  fostered  peculiar  independence,  and  devel- 
oped a  most  distinctive  organization. 

Thoughtful  Americans  feel  that  they  cannot  too  thor- 
oughly understand  our  early  civic  communities,  our 
towns,  parishes,  and  counties,  the  germs  of  State  and 
national  growth,  so  firmly  rooted  in  the  past  of  our 
race.  As  Green,  the  "  historian  of  the  English  people," 
wrote:  "in  the  village  moots  of  Friesland  or  Sleswick 
.  .  .  England  learned  to  be  a  mother  of  parliaments." 
Freeman,  historian  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  looking 


SCOPE  OF   THE  PRESENT   INVESTIGATION.  3 

beyond  our  political  and  geographical  separation,  holds 
that  "the  English-speaking  commonwealth  on  the 
American  mainland  is  simply  a  part  of  the  great  Eng- 
lish folk,"  and  urges  that  the  members  of  this  mighty 
kindred  should  be  to  each  other  "  at  least  as  much  as 
were  the  members  of  the  scattered  Hellenic  settle- 
ments," —  these  all  Englishmen,  as  those  were  all 
Greeks.  In  studying  American  colonial  life,  this  sense 
of  noble  unity  increases ;  and  we  are  inevitably  brought 
to  studies  of  the  European  sources  of  that  life.  Vir- 
ginia and  Massachusetts  lead  us  not  only  to  the  England 
of  Shakspeare  and  Cromwell,  but  also  to  that  older 
England  of  the  Continent. 

But,  if  our  institutional  studies  cease  at  the  summits 
of  the  Alleghanies,  we  have  learned  only  a  part  of  the 
lesson  that  America  has  to  teach.  In  that  New  West 
beyond  the  rocky  borders  of  Nebraska,  and  the  remote 
sources  of  the  Missouri,  American  pioneers  have  shown 
their  hereditary  fitness  for  self-government  under  excep- 
tionally trying  conditions.  The}^  have  wrought  out, 
and  are  still  extending  into  new  regions,  local  institu- 
tions in  the  highest  sense  their  own.  Their  State  life, 
growth  of  law,  crystallization  of  society,  largely  came 
from  small  settlements  known  as  mining-camps,  and 
from  a  social  organization  presenting  remarkable  politi- 
cal and  economic  features.  So  strong,  natural,  and 
impressive  has  been  the  display  in  these  camps  of  a 
capacity  for  organization  of  the  highest  order,  that  the 
episode  known  in  the  West  as  "the  mining-era"  de- 
serves to  be  called  a  stanza  in  the  political  epic  of  the 
Germanic  race  to  which  we  belong. 

The  influence  of  the  Atlantic  colonies  prevailed  with- 
out opposition  in  the  early  settlements  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley ;  but  there  came  a  time  when  American  frontiers- 


4  MINING-CAMPS. 

men  of  the  third  generation  found  a  new  environment, 
adopted  a  new  occupation,  and  met  alien  influences 
from  Moor  and  Saracen,  from  Spaniard  and  Mexican. 
Problems  more  difficult  were  nowhere  else  presented 
on  the  continent:  nowhere  else  were  they  more  tri- 
umphantly solved.  To-day,  over  the  western  third  of 
the  United  States,  institutional  life  traces  its  beginnings 
to  the  mining-camp :  that  is  the  original  contribution 
of  the  American  pioneer  to  the  art  of  self-government. 
Boone  and  his  foresters,  Carson  and  his  trappers.  Bent, 
Bridger,  Beckwourth,  and  their  "mountain-men,"  all 
melted  away  before  the  tides  of  civilization,  without 
being  forced  by  imperious  necessity  to  the  creation  of 
any  code  of  local  laws,  or  to  the  organization  of  any 
form  of  permanent  government;  but  the  early  miners 
of  the  Far  West  showed  large  and  noble  capacities  for 
bringing  order  out  of  chaos,  strength  out  of  weakness, 
because  they  were  a  picked  body  of  men,  and  also  be- 
cause the  life  they  led  fostered  friendship,  encouraged 
individuality,  and  compelled  the  closest  social  union. 

Thirty-seven  years  ago  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Cali- 
fornia caused  thousands  of  miners  to  assemble  in  the 
canons  of  the  Sierra  Nevada ;  and  soon  they  were  forced, 
by  lack  of  Territorial  and  State  government,  to  organize 
for  self-protection,  and  to  enact  and  execute  their  own 
civil  and  criminal  codes.  The  previous  history  of  this 
region  had  been  such  that  many  foreign  influences  con- 
tinued to  act  either  directly  or  indirectly  upon  the  rude 
but  efficient  system  of  the  early  mining-camps,  until, 
with  the  formation  of  permanent  government  under  a 
State  constitution,  all  necessity  for  this  local  camp-law 
of  the  mountains  of  California  appeared  to  have  sud- 
denly ended.  Nevertheless,  a  large  portion  of  this  local 
law,  created  thus  rapidly  and  under  such  unique  social 


SCOPE  OF   THE  PRESENT  INVESTIGATION.  5 

conditions,  exhibited  surprising  vitality.  It  persistently 
kept  its  place,  persistently  extended  itself  to  other  Ter- 
ritories, persistently  influenced  township  and  county 
government.  It  found  ample  recognition  from  Terri- 
torial and  State  legislatures,  from  Congress,  and  from 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States ;  and  it  ulti- 
mately developed  into  what  can  safely  be  called  the 
"American  system  of  mining-law,"  —  a  system  that  is 
honored  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  forms  the 
basis  of  mining-jurisprudence  in  many  of  the  newer 
gold-regions  of  other  countries. 

At  the  present  time  in  the  United  States,  over  nine 
States  and  Territories,  and  throughout  a  rapidly  devel- 
oping region  already  peopled  by  more  than  three  million 
persons,  and  'extending  from  the  silver-ledges  of  south- 
ern New  Mexico  to  the  frozen  placers  ^  of  Coeur  d'Alene, 
and  even  beyond,  mining-property  is  still  held  in  the 
main  by  customs  of  tenure  originated  by  the  early 
placer  and  quartz  miners  of  California.  Although  the 
present  laws  allow  mineral  lands  to  be  "  patented,"  and 
purchased  from  the  government,  it  is  still  true  that 
only  the  well-developed  mining-properties  are  so  pur- 
chased, and  that  the  vast  majority  of  claims  are  held  by 
simple  possessory  rights  under  the  "  land-laws  "  of  the 
camp  or  district.  Often  the  early  "  camp  "  grew  into  a 
"  district,"  embracing  several  camps ;  and  this  district 
ultimately  developed  into  a  township  of  a  county ;  while 
the  original  "  camp  "  in  many  cases  became  a  "  county- 
seat,"  though  still  retaining  strong  evidence  in  local 
customs  of  its  growth  and  previous  history.     The  free. 


1  The  word  "placer"  is  from  the  Spanish.  It  means  "content," 
"  satisfaction."  "  Placers  are  superficial  deposits  of  gold  which  occupy 
the  beds  of  ancient  rivers  "  (Decision  in  Case  of  Moxon  vs.  Wilkinson, 
2d  Montana  Reports). 


6  MINING-CAMPS. 

strong  life  of  the  mining-camp  has  been  a  factor  of 
prime  importance  in  the  social,  literary,  and  institu- 
tional development  of  large  and  prosperous  American 
communities.  The  laws  of  the  mining-camp,  in  modi- 
fied form,  still  influence  many  of  the  newer  States  and 
Territories.  Nothing  that  is  likely  to  happen  will  ever 
take  from  the  civilization  of  this  imperial  domain  of 
Pacific-Coast  and  Rocky-Mountain  region  certain  char- 
acteristics due  to  the  mining-camp  era.  Even  when,  a 
century  hence,  it  is,  perhaps,  divided  into  twenty  States, 
with  a  population  of  twice  as  many  millions,  the  atmos- 
phere and  traditions  of  the  mining-camp  will  yet  linger 
in  the  mountain  gorges,  and  fragments  of  the  miner's 
jurisprudence  will  yet  remain  firmly  embedded  in  local 
and  State  law. 

In  order  to  better  understand  these  camps  of  the  Far 
West,  it  has  seemed  proper,  and  indeed  necessary,  to 
first  investigate,  though  briefly,  the  ancient  and  mediie- 
val  mining-systems.  Through  legal  sources,  and  by 
means  of  history,  chiefly  Spanish,  English,  and  German, 
we  must  connect  the  mining-experiences  of  the  New- 
World  with  those  of  the  Old,  sufficiently,  at  least,  to 
serve  for  purposes  of  illustration.  We  shall  every- 
where discover  that,  as  Professor  Stubbs  says  in  his 
"  Constitutional  History,"  "  the  roots  of  the  present  lie 
deep  in  the  past,"  and  that  "nothing  in  the  past  is  dead 
to  the  man  who  would  learn  how  the  present  comes  to  be 
what  it  is."  The  very  kind  of  local  law  and  self-gov- 
ernment known  to  the  miners  of  California  has  existed 
in  some  degree  among  the  miners  of  many  other  lands. 
The  mining-tribes  of  ancient  Siberia,  the  mining-cities  of 
desert-guarded  Midian,  the  Grecian  "  companies "  that  / 
"drifted"  in  the  hill  of  Laurium,  the  Carthaginian 
"  prospectors  "  who  "  panned  out  "  gold  from  the  sands 


SCOPE   OF   THE  PRESENT  INVESTIGATION.  7 

of  Tagus  and  Guadalquivir,  —  each  and  all  contribute 
precious  material  to  our  investigation.  Above  all,  the 
customs  of  Cornwall  and  Thuringia  serve  to  define, 
illustrate,  and  explain  the  workings  of  primitive  law 
on  the  Pacific  Coast.  We  must  also  study  the  Spanish 
civil  and  mining  code,  as  developed  under  Mexican 
skies,  and  as  transplanted  to  the  soil  of  Alta  California. 
In  California  itself  we  must  trace  Spanish-American 
forces  from  the  days  of  saintly  Padre  Serra  and  bluff 
Governor  Portala  to  the  advent  of  the  bold,  restless 
Anglo-Saxon  trappers,  farmers,  and  miners,  with  their 
capacity  for  work,  and  their  faculty  for  organization. 

At  the  point  of  time  when  the  military  governors  of 
newly  conquered  California  began  to  rule  along  the 
coast,  and  when  the  eager,  energetic  miners  first  pitched 
theii'  tents  beside  the  foaming  Feather  and  Yuba,  and 
swung  their  mighty  picks  against  the  splintering  bowl- 
ders, and  hewed  their  "rockers  "  from  the  giant  mountain 
pines,  century-old,  overhead,  our  investigation,  pursued 
through  so  many  preliminaries,  broadens  at  last  into  the 
study  of  American  miners'  courts,  their  officials,  their 
criminal  and  civil  codes,  their  land-system,  their  forms 
of  procedure  and  government.  Some  of  these  forms 
were  adopted  from  Spanish  law,  some  from  primitive 
forms  familiar  to  the  Germanic  races  from  the  times  of 
Tacitus,  some  were  peculiarly  a  product  of  the  men  and 
the  emergency,  but  all  are  historically  interesting  and 
important.  From  this  point  our  studies  are  properly 
confined  to  an  examination  into  the  growth  of  these 
forces,  and  of  their  abiding  influence  upon  later  society 
and  government.  We  must  not  look  upon  this  period 
as  merely  a  brilliant  episode  full  of  impetus  and  splen- 
dor, dear  to  the  heart  of  the  Western  pioneer,  and 
crowded  with  precious  accumulations  of  material   for 


8  MINLNG-CAMPS. 

coming  poet  and  novelist,  but  as  including  elements 
of  permanent  historical  value,  judged  by  a  standard  of 
utility,  and  as,  in  reality,  an  episode  of  great  institu- 
tional importance,  closely  connected  with  a  curious  past, 
and  still  an  influential  fact  in  forms  of  local  organiza- 
tion as  yet  incomplete. 

One  result  of  our  labors  will,  perhaps,  be  that  we 
shall  more  clearly  comprehend  the  capabilities  of  our 
Germanic  race  for  swift  adaptation  of  the  means  to  the 
end ;  for  readiness  in  every  emergency ;  for  rapid,  yet 
lasting,  social  organization ;  for  acceptance  and  transfor- 
mation of  local  institutions  already  at  hand;  for  that  sort 
of  hearty,  honest  compromise  which  makes  the  best  of 
circumstances,  and  continually  evolves  better  and  better 
conditions  under  which  to  act.  Perhaps  we  shall  thus 
gain  a  higher  faith  in  that  Republic  whose  children  have 
wrought  out,  unknown,  in  silence,  and  under  enormous 
difficulties,  laws  wise  and  good  for  the  sufficient  pro- 
tection of  life  and  property,  adding,  of  their  own  will 
and  choice,  the  majesty  of  government  to  the  careless 
freedom  of  their  frontier  existence.  On  this  higher 
level,  as  a  humble  contribution  to  the  practical  political 
experience  of  the  race,  this  study  of  the  hitherto  un- 
described  institutions  and  unwritten  laws  of  typical 
mining-camps  must  find,  if  anywhere,  its  reason  and  its 
justification. 

In  1866  the  chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  upon 
Mines  and  Mining  closed  his  report  upon  a  bill  then 
before  Congress,  in  the  following  language :  — 

*'It  is  essential  that  this  great  system"  (of  local  law) 
**  established  by  the  people  in  their  primary  capacities,  and 
evidencing  by  the  highest  possible  testimony  the  peculiar 
genius  of  the  American  people  for  founding   empure   and 


SCOPE   OF   THE  PHESENT   INVESTIGATION.  9 

order,  shall  be  preserved  and  affirmed.  Popular  sovereignty 
is  here  displayed  in  one  of  its  grandest  aspects,  and  simply 
invites  us,  not  to  destroy,  but  to  put  upon  it  the  stamp  of 
national  power  and  unquestioned  authority." 


CHAPTER  II. 

ANCIENT  AND  MEDIEVAL  MINING-SYSTEMS.— THE  CODES 
OF  THE  TWELFTH  AND  THIRTEENTH  CENTURIES.— 
GERMANIC  MINING-FREEDOM. 

Man,  as  Aristotle  remarks,  is  endowed  with  an  in- 
stinct subservient  to  the  ends  of  social  union,  and  is 
led  thereto  by  the  commands  of  Nature.  Through  three 
great  forms  of  productive  industry,  this  instinct  has 
been  exercised  and  developed:  first,  by  the  life  pas- 
toral,—  the  keeping  of  cattle,  the  tending  of  sheep,  the 
reining  of  wild  horses ;  second,  by  the  life  agricultural, 
— the  wrestling  with  tangled  forests,  the  breaking  of 
the  stubborn  soil,  the  walling-in  of  •■'  tun  "  and  "  burh ;  " 
third,  by  the  life  of  miners,  —  the  search  for  metals  b^h 
useful  and  precious,  the  impetus  thus  given  to  commerce 
and  the  arts,  the  development  of  inventive  skill,  the 
closer  organization  akin  to  that  of  cities. 

The  value  of  the  precious  metals  was  understood  in 
the  earliest  ages,  as  appears  in  the  literature  of  ancient 
Oriental  nations,  the  rent-rolls  of  Assyrian  monarchs,  and 
even  the  curious  public  libraries  of  that  antediluvian 
race,  the  Accadians,  who  had  collections  at  Sippera, 
Pantabiblia  ("  Book-town  "),  and  elsewhere,  and  whose 
cylinders  of  baked  clay  speak  of  "  gold  weighed  out  for 
payment."  The  Egyptians  are  known  to  have  had  rich 
gold-mines  in  Nubia  and  Abyssinia,  also  in  the  deserts 
of  Sinai  and  on  the  borders  of  Arabia,  where  they  also 

10 


ANCIENT   AND  MEDIEVAL  MINING-SYSTEMS.         11 

mined  for  turquoise,  copper,  and  silver.  A  papyrus  of 
the  nineteenth  dynasty  still  exists,  containing  plans 
of  the  workings  of  the  Nubian  gold-mines.  Herodotus 
gives  the  annual  product  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  mines, 
as  recorded  upon  the  walls  of  one  of  the  palaces  of  the 
kings  of  Thebes,  as  a  sum  equivalent  to  thirty  millions 
of  dollars.  This  was  chiefly  from  quartz-veins,  which 
Diodorus  describes  as  "glittering  with  bright  metals, 
out  of  which  the  overseers  cause  the  gold  to  be  taken." 
Eg3^ptian  and  Assyrian  methods  were  purely  despotic, 
crushing  and  destroying  the  earlier  freedom  of  the 
miner,  which  had  in  all  probability  existed,  and  substi- 
tuting the  doctrine  that  the  ownership  of  all  minerals 
was  vested  in  the  crown. 

The  Phoenicians  mined  copper  in  Kypros,  and  gold 
in  the  paountains  of  Thasos,  where,  as  Herodotus  tells 
us,  they  had  "overturned  a  whole  mountain,"  even 
before  the  thirteenth  century  B.C.  The  Book  of  Job 
contains  a  realistic  description  of  the  early  methods  of 
mining  extant  in  Arabia,  and  doubtless  stimulated  by 
Phoenician  traders.  When  the  merchandising  of  the 
Phoenicians  began  to  assume  world-wide  proportions, 
their  caravans  developed  the  gold-searching  instincts  of 
many  a  semi-civilized  nation  and  half-savage  mountaineer 
tribe.  Throughout  Asia,  the  "Golden  Continent,"  are 
the  remains  of  ancient  and  extensive  gold-workings  on 
the  Smejewka  in  Siberia,  in  the  Urals  and  the  Caucasus, 
along  the  Oxus  and  Indus,  in  Arabia,  Persia,  Tibet, 
Biluchistan,  Japan,  and  at  many  other  widely  separated 
places. 

The  probabilities  in  regard  to  most  of  the  prehistoric 
placer-mines  in  Northern  Asia  are,  that  they  were  worked 
by  wandering  Scythian  tribes,  who  were,  perhaps,  on 
much  the  same  intellectual  level  as  the  turquoise-miners 


J 


12  MINING-CAMPS. 

of  New  Mexico,  the  mica-niiners  of  North  Carolina,  and 
the  ancient  copper-miners  of  the  Lake-Superior  region; 
carrying  on  their  mining-operations  with  rude  appli- 
ances, and  without  other  than  a  tribal  organization.  In 
the  same  region,  Gmelin,  during  the  last  century,  found 
upwards  of  a  thousand  small  sm  el  ting-furnaces  of  brick, 
evidently  used  for  gold-ores  many  centuries  ago  by 
miners  of  whom  we  have  no  further  record.  It  is,  how- 
ever, an  interesting  reflection,  that  some  portion  of  a 
modern  coin,  ornament,  or  vessel  of  gold,  may  consist 
of  Siberian  metal  bartered  for  by  Phoenician  merchants, 
sold  to  Persia,  conquered  by  Alexander,  offered  as  a 
part  of  the  annual  tribute  of  one  hundred  million  dol- 
lars which  Gibbon  estimates  that  the  provinces  sent  to 
Rome,  paid  by  the  degenerate  Greeks  to  Harold  Har- 
drada  when  he  stood  among  their  Varingians,  won  at 
Stamford  Bridge,  and  lost  at  Senlac.  Such  is  the  per- 
manence of  gold,  that,  in  the  worn  wedding-ring  a  starv- 
ing woman  offers  to-day  at  a  pawnbroker's  counter  in 
New  York,  there  may  be  particles  that  once  shone  in 
the  crown  of  Sestu  Ra,  the  Grecian  Sesostris,  or  helped 
to  cover  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant. 

Change  and  decay  have  ever  been  the  fate  of  the 
most  famous  of  mining-regions.  Mountainous  Midian 
furnished  a  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand  fierce 
Bedouin  warriors  in  the  day»  when  her  "captains  and 
mighty  men  of  valor"  for  seven  years  overran  Palestine 
(thirteenth  century  B.C.),  driving  the  people  for  refuge 
to  the  mountain  caves  and  fastnesses,  until  the  greatest 
of  the  judges  of  Israel  arose,  sifted  his  followers  by  the 
"Spring  of  Trembling,"  and  defeated  the  invaders  in 
the  Valley  of  Jezreel.  But  this  Midian,  anciently  so 
populous,  has  now  become  a  desert  land,  inhabited  by 
only  a  few  nomads.     On  the  sea-coast,  and  far  inland 


ANCIENT   AND   MEDIEVAL  MINING-SYSTEMS.        13 

along  the  channels  of  perished  rivers,  are  the  ruins  of 
large  cities  which  were  chiefly  supported  bj  mining- 
industries.  The  placers  and  rich  gravel-mines,  whose 
exhaustion  caused  the  decay  of  once  wealthy  and  com- 
mercial Midian,  are  fairly  reticulated  with  old  water- 
ditches;  on  the  barren  hills  are  vast  reservoirs  and 
ruined  walls ;  the  country  was  long  ago  denuded  of  its 
forests  for  mining-purposes;  and  so  waste  and  desolate 
does  the  region  appear,  that  its  ancient  prosperity  is 
hard  to  understand,  although  the  unimpeachable  evi- 
dence is  before  the  eyes  of  every  traveller  in  the  "  land 
of  Midian." 

The  historical  and  geographical  link  between  Asia 
and  Europe  is  Lydia.  The  broad,  fertile,  and  easily 
tilled  plains  of  the  classic  Kayster  were  encircled  by 
mountains  rich  in  mineral  wealth.  Among  the  Phrygo- 
Thrakians  were  mining-tribes  whose  chief  occupation 
was  in  gathering  gold  and  silver,  learning  to  smelt  the 
latter  with  great  skill,  and  finally  inventing  a  coinage. 
Strangely  enough,  the  Lydian  standard,  the  silver  mina, 
afterwards  used  with  slight  changes  by  the  Greeks,  was 
truly  the  mana  of  the  Accadians,  given  by  them  to 
the  Babylonians,  and  so  transferred,  by  way  of  Persia, 
to  the  mountaineers  of  Lydia.  In  this,  as  in  so  many 
greater  things,  Europe  drew  the  sources  of  her  knowl- 
edge from  the  remote,  despotic,  and  mysterious  Orient. 
But,  as  regards  methods  of  mining,  all  the  Oriental 
monarchies  were  alike  in  the  use  of  the  most  cruel  forms 
of  slave-labor  and  in  the  greatest  conceivable  waste. 
From  an  institutional  stand-point,  they  afford  little  that 
is  worth  study.  The  mere  figures  of  gold-yields  are 
astounding.  Solomon,  it  is  estimated,  had  a  yearly 
income  of  twenty-three  and  a  half  million  dollars  in- 
gold  alone ;  and  Calmet  thinks  that  he  spent  on  Jerusa- 


14  MINING-CAIklPS.  '^ 

lem  and  the  temple  the  sum  of  four  thousand  million 
dollars.  Diodorus  tells  us,  that,  out  of  the  ashes  of  Susa 
and  Persepolis,  seven  million  dollars  in  gold  was  ex- 
tracted. But  treasure-houses  such  as  these  were  filled 
by  forced  labor  and  royal  monopolies.  In  the  case  of 
the  early  Oriental  powers,  the  tribes  upon  their  borders 
who  were  developing  local  systems  for  the  ownership 
and  working  of  mineral  deposits  were  crushed  and  over- 
whelmed before  those  systems  could  take  permanent 
form.  We  must  leave  "  the  wide  Asian  fen,"  and  turn 
to  the  hills  around  whose  heights  "  the  first-born  olive- 
blossom  brightened,"  to  the  rocky  coasts  that  "  sheltered 
the  Salaminian  seamen,"  to  "  nodding  promontories  and 
blue  isles  and  cloud-like  mountains,"  to  the  city  "violet- 
crowned,"  whose  deathless  memory  moves  like  sunlight 
about  the  broad  earth  forever. 

In  the  Athenian  state,  we  discover  the  first  orderly 

^  and  effective  system  in  regard  to  the  management  of 
mineral  resources,  and  the  government  of  mines.  The 
fcimous  silver  and  lead  mines  of  Laurium  in  southern 
Attica  rose  to  prominence  about  tlie  year  600  B.C.,  and 
were  worked  with  varying  success  till  the  second  century 
before  the  beginning  of  our  era.  In  1864,  after  nearly 
two  thousand  years  of  neglect,  the  old  shafts  were  re- 
opened by  a  company  of  French  capitalists.  An  esti- 
mate has  been  made,  that,  during  the  three  hundred 
years  that  the  Athenians  worked  these  mines,  they  pro- 
cured two  million  one  hundred  thousand  tons  of  lead, 
and  twenty-two  and  a  half  million  pounds  of  silver. 
According  to  the  law  of  Athens  upon  this  subject,  the 

\  mines  were  not  freehold  property.    Although  belonging 

\  to  the  state,  they  were  not  leased  or  farmed  out  to  the 

highest  bidder,  as  was  the  Roman  custom :  they  were 

granted  to  individuals  to  use  as  a  permanent  tenantcy. 


ANCIENT   AND  MEDIAEVAL  MINING-SYSTEMS.        15 

A  small  sum  was  paid  on  taking  possession,  and  only- 
one  twenty-fourth  of  the  gross  ore-yield  of  the  mine  was 
required  as  rent.  The  mine  was  then  to  all  intents  pri- 
vate property,  unless  neglected ;  when  the  state  could 
bring  suit,  and  recover.  The  statement,  that  before  the 
time  of  Themistocles  the  mines  were  the  absolute  free- 
hold property  of  certain  families,  rests  upon  slight 
authority,  and  seems  improbable.  Any  and  all  members 
of  the  community  were  empowered  to  institute  public 
suits  against  the  mine-possessors  in  case  of  their  viola- 
tion of  any  statute,  and  suits  of  this  sort  were  frequent- 
ly brought.  There  is  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a 
"director  of  the  mines,"  elected  by  those  interested. 
The  income  which  the  state  derived  from  the  rents  was 
annually  distributed  among  the  citizens,  in  much  the 
same  way  as  was  the  "  Theoricon  "  in  later  times,  every 
one  whose  name  was  in  the  book  of  the  Lexiarchs  receiv- 
ing his  portion.  Themistocles,  it  will  be  remembered, 
persuaded  the  Athenians  to  devote  this  income  to  the 
building  of  ships. 

From  Xenophon's  "  Treatise  upon  the  Revenues,"  and 
Demosthenes'  speech  against  Pantsenetus,  we  gather 
much  about  the  Grecian  system  of  managing  the  Lau- 
rium  mines.  Companies  were  organized  to  work  one 
or  more  shafts,  and  many  of  the  wealthier  Athenians 
owned  shares  in  several  such  enterprises.  The  size  of 
each  "claim"  was  strictly  defined,  and  private  enter- 
prise was  greatly  encouraged  to  send  out  "prospectors." 
Secure  though  the  tenure  of  mining-property  was,  it 
could  be  transferred  only  to  a  citizen,  or  to  aliens  capa- 
ble of  holding  agricultural  lands.  Any  person  was 
allowed  to  dig  for  new  mines  in  unexplored  places ;  but, 
although  richly  rewarded,  successful  prospectors  had  no 
prior  right :  what  they  found  belonged  to  Athens,  and 


16  MINING-CAMPS. 

might  be  rented  to  any  other  person.  The  labor  used 
in  the  mines  was  that  of  private  slaves.  Each  shaft 
was  registered  by  the  mine-inspector  of  the  state,  who 
examined  the  supports  of  the  various  drifts  and  galleries, 
and  saw  that  the  bounds  were  not  exceeded.  Lessen- 
ing the  supports  of  a  drift,  and  trespass,  were  punishable 
by  fines,  infamy,  banishment,  or  death.  Demosthenes 
addresses  the  tribunal  as  the  "mining-court,"  set  to  try 
"mining-cases."  Some  of  the  island  mines  paid  one- 
tenth  of  the  ore  to  the  shrine  of  Apollo  at  Delphos. 

Spain,  the  Peru  of  Europe,  and  in  minerals  the  rich- 
est country  of  the  ancient  world,  developed  slowly,  and 
under  enormous  pressure,  a  system  of  mining-laws  which 
once  ruled  the  greater  portion  of  the  American  conti- 
nents, and  still  prevails  in  variously  modified  forms 
throughout  Mexico,  Central  and  South  America.  In 
that  law,  deeply  embedded  as  fossils  in  a  slab  of  lime- 
stone, there  yet  remain  principles  of  widely  differing 
origm,  —  Carthaginian,  Roman,  Gothic,  Moorish,  Cas- 
tilian.  But  the  traces  of  mining-institutions  are  few 
indeed  under  the  dominion  of  either  Carthage  or  Rome. 
Instead  of  many  mine-owners,  bound  together,  as  in 
Athens,  by  a  common  law,  having  the  same  duties 
towards  the  state,  and  equal  protection  from  it,  we 
have  in  Spain,  under  Carthage,  the  almost  uncontrolled 
authority  of  the  proud  family  of  Barca.  Hannibal 
procured  about  three  hundred  pounds  of  silver  each  day 
from  his  Spanish  mines.  Pliny  describes  the  method 
of  obtaining  gold  from  streams  of  Spain  by  using  a 
pan,  also  a  method  of  "  ground-sluicing ;  "  and  he  men- 
tions the  use  of  timber  supports  in  drifts  and  tunnels, 
some  of  which  extended  fifteen  hundred  paces  into  the 
hill. 

Even  in   Carthaginian   days,  the   almost  inevitable 


ANCIENT   AND   MEDIEVAL  MINING-SYSTEMS.        17 

destruction  attending  great  mining-operations  was  going 
on  with  unusual  rapidity  in  Spain ;  subsequent  Roman 
methods  wonderfully  accelerated  this  ruin.  Their  mines, 
farmed  out  to  the  highest  bidders,  were  wastefully  worked 
and  recklessly  destroyed.  For  a  time  the  Romans  em- 
ployed twenty-jSve  thousand  slaves  at  Carthagena  alone, 
and  the  silver-yield  was  equal  to  ten  thousand  dollars 
daily.  The  Spanish  placers  yielded  large  sums;  and 
they  also  were  farmed  out,  after  the  manner  of  the  silver- 
mines.  Inventive  skill  of  a  high  order  characterized  the 
early  miners  of  Spain,  who  greatly  improved  the  Egyp- 
tian methods  of  grinding  or  smelting  ores,  and  extracting 
the  precious  metals.  All  this  implies  close  organization, 
division  of  labor,  and  severity  of  discipline.  The  later 
Roman  emperors  made  reforms  in  the  close  military  sys- 
tem, gave  more  sway  to  private  enterprise,  allowed  some 
mines  to  be  worked  by  associations,  granted  the  "  pros- 
pectors" permission  to  search  for  mineral,  and  intro- 
duced a  sort  of  feudal  service.  The  Romans  also  knew 
of  placer-mines  in  northern  Italy,  discovered  by  the 
Etruscans,  who  even  brought  iron  from  Elba;  but, 
curiously  enough,  the  Roman  senate  would  not  allow 
them  to  be  worked.  The  Salassians  opened  placers  in 
Lombardy ;  and,  as  Polybius  relates,  the  Taurisci  found 
such  rich  placers  near  Aquila,  that  the  price  of  gold  fell 
one-third  throughout  Italy  in  the  space  of  two  months. 
Thus  far  in  our  investigation  we  have  seen,  that, 
although  the  gold-hunger  has  ever  furnished  a  stimulat- 
ing element  to  early  society,  the  ancient  world  afforded 
narrow  opportunities  for  the  development  of  valuable 
institutional  forms  among  the  classes  engaged  in  mining. 
We  read  of  rich  placer-mines  by  the  score,  but  not  of 
their  local  legislation  and  self-government;  such  fea- 
tures being  absent  until  the  advent  of  miners  of  the 


18  MINING-CAMPS. 

race  whose  "political  instinct"  has  become  a  familiar 
phrase.  Golden  sands  of  the  rivers  of  Tibet  and  India 
set  long  caravans  in  motion  past  Babylon,  past  Palmyra, 
to  imperious,  luxurious  Tyre ;  golden  nuggets  from  the 
Chinese  frontiers  poured  into  stately  Balkh,  ''mother 
of  cities,"  cradle  of  ancient  kings,  and  greatest  satrapy 
of  Persia;  Grecian  placers  of  Pactolus  yielded  their 
treasures  to  Croesus,  and  were  still  worked  in  the  days 
of  Xenophon.  But  waste  and  barren  of  constructive 
energies  were  all  the  mining-regions  of  ancient  Europe 
and  Asia.  As  the  mining-history  of  the  medieval 
world  shows,  the  Germanic  races,  and  they  alone,  have 
organized  true  mining-camps  which  developed  into 
higher  forms  of  society.  Whatever  elements  other  races 
have  contributed,  the  informing  spirit  of  such  camps 
has  been  thoroughly  Germanic.  The  organization  of  a 
Spanish  mining-law  began  with  the  Visigothic  kings,  in 
the  days  of  Pelayo ;  the  laws  of  the  California  camps 
of  1849  were  linked  in  spirit  to  the  "mining-freedom" 
and  the  mining-cities  of  the  middle  ages. 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  what  influences  from 
the  Roman  mining-world,  which  even  in  its  decadence 
embraced  all  the  rich  mineral  regions  of  southern 
Europe,  could  have  survived  the  chaos  and  wreck  of 
barbarian  conquest. 

After  the  fall  of  Rome,  the  Arabs,  Franks,  and  Goths 
in  Spain,  Gaul,  and  northern  Italy,  worked  to  some  ex- 
tent the  abandoned  and  nearly  exhausted  Roman  mines. 
To  northern  Spain  the  Visigoths  brought  a  new  force ; 
and  the  Fuero  Juzgo^  or  code  of  laws  of  the  Gothic 
predecessors  of  Alonzo  the  Wise,  shows  greater  freedom 
of  the  individual,  greater  respect  for  local  institutions 
and  for  self-government,  than  Spain  had  previously 
known.     Hints  of  local  mining-organizations  in  Thrace, 


ANCIENT  AND   MEDIEVAL  MINING-SYSTEMS.        19 

and  along  the  Danube  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries, 
make  it  evident,  though  definite  records  are  lacking,  that 
wandering  miners  existed  in  that  region,  and  were  slowly 
"prospecting"  the  mountain  ranges  to  the  north  and 
west.  Hungarian  mining  can  be  traced  back  to  the  year 
750,  begun  by  prospectors  from  Gaul,  says  Reitemeier. 
But  German  mining-history  clusters  about  the  Hartz 
Mountains ;  and  it  is  a  significant  fact,  that  mining  began 
there,  at  the  great  Andreasberg  ledges,  in  the  midst  of 
a  political  and  national  renaissance  which  profoundly 
stirred  and  influenced  the  whole  of  central  Europe.  It 
began  there  towards  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  in 
the  reign  of  Otho  the  Great,  second  emperor  of  the 
Saxon  line,  who  wore  the  iron  crown  of  Lombardy  and 
the  imperial  crown  of  Rome,  reviving  the  glories  of 
that  holy  empire,  obscured  since  the  mightest  of  medi- 
aeval monarchs  had  sunk  to  rest  with  his  paladins  and 
his  sword,  —  in  the  reign  of  that  Otho  whose  father, 
Henry,  had  driven  back  the  heathen  in  many  a  fierce 
battle,  had  quelled  the  wild  Magyars  at  Merseburg,  had 
taken  the  Mark  of  Brandenburg  from  the  Sclavdnians 
to  become  in  after-time  heart  of  Prussia  and  appanage 
of  the  Hohenzollerns,  had  built  frontier  fortresses,  and 
posted  his  warrior  Mark-grafs  to  protect  the  borders 
against  Dane  and  Finn,  Sclav  and  Hun.  With  a  firmer 
government,  a  stronger  national  life,  material  enter- 
prises developed  wonderfully  ;  the  forest-ways  began  to 
be  trodden  by  peaceful  merchants,  and  explored  by 
seekers  for  precious  metals.  In  Saxony,  in  the  tenth 
century,  mines  of  vast  richness  were  discovered  by 
Bohemian  salt-carriers,  who  found  silver  ore  in  the  ruts 
worn  on  a  steep  hillside  by  the  wheels  of  their  rude 
cart.  The  early  German  miners  soon  began  to  make 
enactments  to  govern  themselves.     A  law  of  mining- 


20  MINING-CAMPS. 

claims,  and  rules  of  mining-life,  prevailed  among  these 
first  Thuringian  miners  who  struck  pick  into  rocks  of 
Black  Forest  and  Hartz,  and  unveiled  the  treasures  of 
Freiberg,  no  less  certainly  than  similar  laws  and  usages 
prevail  to-day  among  the  organizers  of  the  newest  camps 
on  the  Rio  Grande  and  Yukon.  The  Mark  method  of 
dividing  lands  was  no  more  certainly  a  product  of  the 
thought  of  the  Germanic  race  than  are  the  customs 
which  to-day  govern  freemen  in  distributing  with  fair- 
ness the  auriferous  soil  of  western  placers.  The  spirit 
of  the  tribes  of  whose  social  and  political  organization 
Tacitus  gave  so  vivid  an  account,  lives  at  this  hour  in 
free  "  miners'  courts  "  of  Idaho  and  Alaska. 

To  Germanic  sources  we  must  trace  the  most  impor- 
tant principles  of  mining-law.  The  local  customs  of  the 
earliest  Hartz  miners  have  never  since  ceased  to  exert 
an  influence  upon  civilization.  The  Mark  system  of 
common  lands,  annually  re-distributed,  was  most  likely 
the  foundation  of  early  German  mining-regulations;  but 
it  took  so  long  to  make  a  mine  productive,  that  the 
re-distribution  plan  could  not  be  permanently  adopted. 
The  plan  of  making  ownership  depend  upon  actual  use, 
and  limiting  it  to  small,  well-defined  tracts,  was  the 
obvious  substitute.  All  the  early  German  codes  express 
the  idea  of  mining-freedom,  of  a  possible  ownership  of 
the  minerals  apart  from  the  soil,  of  the  right  of  the 
individual  to  search  for  and  possess  the  precious  metals, 
provided  he  infringed  on  no  previous  rights.  This 
"mining-freedom"  (^Berghaufreiheit)  contains  the  essence 
of  all  frontier  mining-customs  ever  since.  The  right  to 
"prospect,"  "locate  "  a  given  claim,  and  hold  it  against 
all  comers  until  abandoned,  is  the»right  guaranteed,  in 
one  form  or  another,  by  the  newest  mining-camps  of 
Montana.     This  is  the  same  right  once  possessed  by 


CODES  OF  TWELFTH  AND  THIRTEENTH  CENTURIES.     21 

the  men  of  the  "  seven  mining-cities  of  the  Hartz,"  and 
by  those  of  Freiberg,  of  Truro,  of  Penzance,  and  of 
other  cities  of  the  middle  ages  where  mining  guilds  and 
organizations  existed. 

The  first  written  document  which  embodies  these 
rights  is  the  mining-treaty  of  1185,  between  the  Bishop 
of  Trent  and  certain  immigrants  from  Germany.  Other 
codes  appear  later;  in  1250  one  in  Moravia,  in  1307  one 
in  Styria.  All  these,  and  others  of  the  period,  were 
founded  on  the  unwritten  custom,  on  those  usages 
"  which  have  lasted  from  time  immemorial."  The  Mo- 
ravian or  Iglau  code  provides  for  the  appointment  of 
officials  to  fix  mine-bounds,  and  defines  conditions  of 
ownership.  The  full  size  of  a  claim  is  set  at  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy-nine  feet  long,  and  one  hundred  and 
ninety-six  feet  wide  ;  a  portion  is  set  aside  for  the  king, 
and  a  part  for  the  town  if  on  common  lands,  for  the 
owner  if  on  private  property.  Mining-courts  are  granted 
with  special  rights  and  jurisdictions  {Berghehorde).  In 
later  years  the  miners  gave  effective  aid  to  burghers 
and  artisans  in  their  struggles  against  the  robber  barons. 
The  precious  "  mining-freedom" "  asserted  by  the  work- 
ing miners  underwent  severe  assaults  from  small  land- 
owners, from  petty  princes,  and  from  the  emperor 
himself;  but  its  broader  principles  were,  as  a  rule,  main- 
tained intact.  During  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,  German  mining-jurisprudence  grew  exceed- 
ingly complicated,  and  covered  a  great  range  of  topics. 
Associated  mining-enterprises  were  frequent.  Miners 
from  the  most  famous  districts  of  Germany  had  long 
been  in  demand  in  other  mineral  regions  of  Europe, 
and  often  offered  their  services  to  foreign  kings.  Every- 
where they  carried  with  them  the  customs,  laws,  ex- 
perience, and  superstitions  of  the  craft.     They  worked 


22  MINING-CAMPS. 

mines  in  northern  Italy,  in  France,  in  Scotland  and 
England,  developing  a  strong  professional  pride  and 
secrecy.  They  filled  the  place  in  the  mediaeval  world 
that  Cornish  miners  occupy  in  modern  times.  Theirs 
was  the  reputation  for  dealing  with  the  most  stubborn 
ores,  and  the  most  difiicult  engineering  problems. 

Speaking  in  the  broadest  sense,  the  true  relationship 
which  exists  among  the  laws  of  all  "mining-camps" 
worth  the  name,  is  not  so  much  in  the  form  of  the  laws 
themselves,  as  in  the  organizing  capabilities  of  that  race 
which  works  out  similar  results  under  similar  circum- 
stances, with  surprising  fitness  of  method  and  fulness 
of  harmony,  and  with  supreme  and  all-conquering  self- 
confidence.  No  one  is  able  to  show  that  there  has  ever 
been  any  uniform  theory  of  law  for  mining-camps, 
scarcely  more  than  for  caravans  in  the  desert :  but  it 
has  nevertheless  happened,  owing  to  this  inherent  polit- 
ical instinct,  that  whenever  and  wherever  men  of  our 
Germanic  race  found  minerals,  they  developed  a  satis- 
factory system  of  local  government,  based  on  a  series 
of  compromises,  and  differing  in  essential  particulars 
from  the  sort  of  local  government  developed  no  less 
naturally  by  agricultural  communities ;  their  judgments 
grew  swifter,  and  their  justice  surer,  as  was  needed  to 
counteract  the  volcanic  passions  and  disrupting  tenden- 
cies of  their  fascinating  and  hazardous  pursuit.  In  the 
hands  of  the  Germanic  race  alone,  tliis  fierce  gold-hunger 
has  been  controlled,  utilized,  and  made  a  force  of  pri-  y 
mary  importance  in  the  shaping  of  civilized  society. 
Communities  created  and  built  up  by  mining-industries 
have  thus  been  transformed,  without  danger  and  with- 
out loss,  into  communities  based  on  agriculture,  com- 
merce, and  manufactures.  With  men  of  other  races, 
the  possession  of  wealth-laden   placers   has   too   often 


GERMANIC  MINING-FREEDOM.  23 

meant  their  rapid,  reckless  exhaustion,  the  washing- 
away  of  every  particle  of  soil,  the  destruction  of  every 
forest-tree,  the  inevitable  decay  and  desertion  of  towns, 
the  absolute  ruin  and  complete  desolation  of  the  entire 
region  :  with  men  of  our  race,  the  exhaustion  of  placer- 
mines  has  only  hastened  the  development  of  more  potent  \y 
and  permanent  resources,  has  given  us  the  wools  of  later 
Australia,  the  wheat  and  wines  of  later  California. 

The  institutional  history  of  modern  mining-camps 
thus  finds  its  proper  place  in  the  ever-broadening  story 
of  local  self-government  among  men  of  our  race,  —  the 
story  which  runs  back  to  the  days  when  rude,  brave 
men  lifted  a  chosen  leader  on  their  ringing  shields,  and 
swore  allegiance ;  when  the  three  judges,  each  with  his 
twelve  doomsmen,  met  in  yearly  tribunal ;  when  "  broth- 
ers of  the  sword-oath  "  (in  Icelandic,  ver  svorjum  Brw- 
dershaft)  bound  their  rune-cut,  bleeding  arms  together, 
swearing  eternal  freundschaft  over  their  naked  war- 
weapons.  You  may  find  to-day,  if  you  are  able  to  recog- 
nize old  types  in  new  attire,  the  true  descendants  of  the 
Germanic  "sword-brothers"  in  the  devoted  "pards"  of 
a  raw  mining-camp  on  the  outposts  of  civilization  ;  and  ^ 
closer  resemblances  than  this  lie  thickly  scattered  along 
the  course  of  our  investigation.  To  those  who  have 
ears  to  hear,  the  free  and  unconventional  yet  sufficiently 
systematized  life  of  mining-camps  is  able  to  tell  a  story 
of  the  beginnings  of  things,  of  forest  meetings  in  Sax- 
ony, of  freemen  in  isolated  villages  assembling  to  allot 
the  common  lands,  of  English  folk-moots  in  England 
before  the  waves  of  conquest  rolled  over  the  wild 
heights  of  Exmoor,  before  the  hill-fortress  of  Exeter 
passed  from  Keltic  ownership,  before  Lindum  Colonia 
became  English  Lincoln.  Since  Germanic  mining  be- 
gan, certain  vital  principles  have  been  asserted  by  the 


24  MINING-CAMPS. 

men  of  camp,  district,  and  mining-town.  The  local 
mining-law  whose  sources  are  as  old  as  the  capitularies 
of  Charlemagne,  and  probably  far  older,  is  a  living  force 
in  the  world  to-day.  Professor  R.  W.  Raymond  says 
of  early  Germanic  mining-law,  — 

"  In  the  form  of  a  local  custom,  obtaining  with  remarkable  imi- 
formity  in  all  the  original  centres  of  German  mining,  the  principle 
of  mining-freedom  established  itself,  permitting  all  persons  to  search 
for  useful  minerals,  and  granting  to  the  discoverer  of  such  a  deposit 
the  rights  of  property  within  certain  limits.  This  principle  of  free 
mining  emigrated  with  the  German  miners  to  all  places  whither 
their  enterprise  extended  itself,  and  the  original  local  custom  be- 
came the  general  law.  In  this  existence  of  an  estate  in  minerals, 
entirely  independent  of  the  estate  in  soil,  lies  the  distinctive  charac- 
ter of  German  mining-law.  It  is  eminently  a  special  law,  not  sul>- 
ordinate  to  civil  law  but  co-ordinate  with  it."  ^ 


1  Relations  of  Governments  to  Mining.    United-States  Mining  Re- 
port, 1869. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CUSTOMS  OF  CORNWALL.  — STANNARY-COURTS,  BAR- 
MOTES,  AND  TIN-BOUNDS. 

The  development  of  local  legislation  among  some  of 
the  miners  of  England  furnishes  most  useful  parallels 
to  the  development  of  such  legislation  among  American 
gold-miners.  Valuable  gold-mines  have  existed  in  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  Wales,  and  Ireland  ;  and  mining  excite- 
ments have  several  times  occurred  over  the  "  auriferous 
gossan "  of  Cornwall  and  Merionethshire.  A  Briton 
tribe,  the  Trinobantes,  coined  gold,  it  is  said,  from  the 
"  placers  "  of  Essex.  Edward  III.  issued  a  writ  assert- 
ing royal  rights  over  a  gold-mine  in  Salop  County,  and 
Henry  IV.  did  the  same  in  several  instances.  During 
the  reign  of  James  V.  of  Scotland,  some  three  hundred 
placer-miners  worked  for  months  at  "  Gold-scaur,"  near 
Wanlochhead,  and  collected  more  than  a  million  dollars. 
The  largest  nugget  found  weighed  thirty  ounces  ($480). 
Many  instances  of  alluvial  washings  for  gold  in  the 
British  Isles  might  be  given  from  the  old  chronicles; 
the  latest  being  those  of  Wicklow,  Ireland,  worked  in 
1796.  But  no  trace  of  "local  law"  seems  to  have  re- 
mained ;  and  we  are  forced  to  turn  to  the  lead,  tin,  and 
copper  miners,  for  examples  of  successful  organization. 

Local  customs  of  the  utmost  importance  have  long 
existed  in  Cornwall,  Devonshire,  and  Derbyshire,  chiefly 
in  Cornwall,  that  land  of  folk-lore  tales   and   strange 

25 


26  MINING-CAMPS. 

survivals.  When,  as  legends  declare,  "St.  Michael's 
wooded  mount  was  six  miles  from  the  sea ;  "  when  the 
early  Britons,  or  as  modern  Cornishmen  call  them  "  the 
old-men,"  were  simple  placer-miners  digging  up  "  stream 
tin  "  from  alluvial  channels,  and  leaving  traces  of  their 
toil  from  Land's  End  to  Dartmoor ;  when  Beltane-fires 
were  lit,  and  St.  Piran  became  the  miners'  merry  saint, — 
there  was  rude  organization  among  tlie  miners  of  Corn- 
wall. They  held  great  public  assemblies  under  the  open 
sky,  upon  chosen  spots  on  the  wild  moor,  surrounded 
by  earthen  walls,  traces  of  which  yet  remain ;  and  these 
meetings  were  called  Guirimears  or  speech-days.  Old 
smelting-furnaces  of  this  Keltic  period  still  exist,  and 
the  modern  miners  call  them  "  Jews'  houses."  A  curi- 
ous old  song,  apostrophizing  early  Cornwall,  says,  — 

"  Come  old  Phoenicians,  come  tin-dealers, 
From  Marazion  come,  ye  .Jews; 
Come  smugglers,  wreckers,  and  sheep-stealers, 
Come  tell  the  ancient  county  news." 

Into  this  prehistoric  drift,  —  to  borrow  a  term  from 
geology,  —  an  adventurous  element  was  brought  from 
widely  diverse  sources.  There  was  a  wild  freedom  in 
the  air  of  Cornwall ;  and  outlaws  sought  its  forests,  sea- 
rovers  the  shelter  of  its  cliffs.  Literature,  with  its 
divine  instinct,  loves  the  stormy  land  where  Tristram 
slew  giants,  and  Hereward  wrought  deeds  of  prowess ; 
and  some  of  the  greatest  of  living  poets  have  made  its 
shadowy  legends  as  immortal  as  the  tales  of  the  Vol- 
sungs.  Long  ago  the  miners  of  "wild,  bright  Corn- 
wall" chose  their  standard,  a  white  cross  on  a  black 
ground;  until  within  this  century  they  kept  "Old 
Christmas,"  the  5th  of  January,  and  for  twelve  days 
suffered  no  fire  to  be    taken   from   their  hearths.     So 


CUSTOMS   OF   CORNWALL.  27 

tenaciously  does  the  past  survive  in  the  present,  that 
even  now  a  verdant  branch  is  fastened  on  midsummer- 
day  to  the  highest  woodwork  of  the  steam-engines,  to 
mark  the  beginning  of  the  Baal-year. 

Early  in  the  middle  ages,  miners  from  the  heart  of 
the  Black  Forest  found  their  way  to  Cornwall.^  They 
left  numbers  of  mining-terms  embedded  in  the  language, 
and  greatly  modified  the  local  laws  and  customs.  The 
use  of  the  divining  or  "dowzing"  rod  in  England  is 
not  older  than  the  advent  of  German  miners,  brought 
over  by  Queen  Elizabeth  to  teach  the  Cornishmen  how 
to  work  certain  refractory  ores.  One  of  these,  named 
Schutz,  became  warden  of  the  stannaries.  At  this  point, 
then,  we  discover  the  institutional  link  between  English 
and  German  mining-law:  we  also  understand  how  it 
has  come  to  pass  that  the  Cornish  miners  of  Nevada 
and  Montana  still  use  a  vocabulary  some  of  whose  terms 
are  derived  from  phrases  in  use  among  the  miners  of 
Freiburg  six  centuries  ago. 

The  former  rights  of  the  "  free  prospector  "  or  "  tin- 
bounder  "  of  Cornwall  have  only  recently  fallen  into 
disuse.  The  ancient  stannary-courts,  which  we  are 
now  to  describe,  have  only  of  late  years  received  any 
serious  modification ;  and,  though  shorn  of  many  of 
their  ancient  dignities,  they  still  remain  as,  historically 
speaking,  the  last  representatives  of  older  and  far  more 
powerful  forms. 

The  local  mining-courts,  and  the  force  of  local  custom, 

1  There  was  also  some  migration  of  Cornish  miners  to  Germany. 
Camden's  Britannia  says,  "  After  the  comming  in  of  the  Normans  the 
Earles  of  Cornwal  gathered  great  riches  out  of  these  mines  .  .  .  sith 
that  in  those  daies  Europe  had  tinne  from  no  other  place."  He  goes 
on  to  state  that  in  the  year  1240  "  was  tinne  mettall  found  in  Germania 
by  a  certain  Cornishman  driven  out  of  his  native  soil  to  the  great  losse 
and  hindrance  of  Richard,  Earle  of  Cornwal." 


28  MINING-CAMPS. 

were  authoritatively  recognized  by  the  organization  of 
the  chief  stannary-court,  which  long  proved  a  most 
valuable  right  and  defence  of  the  miners.  It  has  been 
modified  into  a  court  of  records ;  but  it  originally  existed 
as  an  original  court  of  equity,  of  the  vice-warden  of  all 
the  stannaries  of  Cornwall.^  At  the  present  time  it  has 
jurisdiction  in  certain  matters  over  all  companies  en- 
gaged in  tin-mining;  but  its  local,  representative,  and 
legislative  character  no  longer  exists.  The  stannary- 
court  is  treated  of  at  length  in  various  Chancery  and 
King's  Bench  reports,  and  in  papers  published  in  the 
British  Geological  Reports ;  and  it  was  established,  rec- 
ognized, and  enforced  by  numbers  of  ancient  charters. 

King  John  granted  a  charter  to  the  tin-miners,  giv- 
ing them  the  right  to  mine  on  waste  and  unoccupied 
lands.  By  a  charter  of  33d  Edward  I.,  all  the  working 
tin-miners  were  given  privilege  of  being  sued  only  in 
the  vice-warden's  court.  According  to  this  and  subse- 
quent grants,  the  "  ancient  charters,  local  customs,  and 
records  of  lower  courts  "  were  always  to  be  received 
as  evidence.  Henry  VII.  increased  the  powers  of  the 
legal  convocation,  or  "  parliament  of  tin-miners,'*  which 
had  settled  disputes  and  made  laws  respecting  tin-claims 
since  the  days  of  Edward  III.  This  stannary  parlia- 
ment  consisted   of   twenty-four  influential   miners   or 


1  Camden's  account,  in  his  Britannia,  is  as  follows:  "The  whole 
commonwealth  of  those  tinners  and  workmen  as  it  were  one  body  hee 
(King  Edward  Third)  divided  into  four  quarters  .  .  .  Foymore,  Black- 
more,  Trewarnaile,  and  Penwith.  Over  them  all  hee  ordained  a  Warden 
called  'Lord  Warden  of  the  Stannanes  and  Stannum,'  that  is,  tinne,  who 
giveth  judgment  as  well  according  to  equitie  and  conscience  as  law,  and 
appointeth  to  every  quarter  their  stewards,  who,  once  every  three  weeks 
.  .  .  minister  justice  in  causes  personall  between  Tinner  and  Tinner  and 
between  Tinner  and  Forrainer.  ...  In  matters  of  moment  there  are 
general  parliaments  summonned  whereunto  jurats  are  sent  out  of  every 
Stannarie." 


CUSTOMS   OF   CORNWALL.  29 

stannators,  six  chosen  in  each  district.  The  last  par- 
liament was  held  at  Truro  in  1752.  Here  the  men 
of  Penzance  and  Carclaza,  of  Botallock,  Carn  Brea, 
and  dozens  of  other  mining  villages  and  towns,  met, 
and  formulated  Cornish  mining-laws.  They  came  from 
quarry-like  mines  on  the  barren  moor,  open  to  the  sky; 
from  shafts  sunk  deep  in  the  earth;  and  from  drifts 
extended  half  a  mile  under  sea,  where  hammer-blows 
sounded  beneath  the  keels  of  ships,  with  but  ten  feet 
of  crumbling  rock  between.  To-day  the  descendants  of 
these  men  are  among  the  boldest  and  most  successful 
miners  in  America.  At  Eureka,  on  the  Comstock,  in 
the  Black  Hills,  wherever  one  goes,  in  fact,  the  heredi- 
tary mining-lore  of  the  Cornishmen  is  in  demand. 

The  miners  of  the  Mendip  district,  Cornwall,  as  late 
as  the  seventeenth  century,  punished  those  who  stole 
ore  from  the  drifts  with  banishment,  and  with  burning 
of  the  offender's  domicile ;  theft  being  considered,  as  in 
the  Western  camps  of  to-day,  a  crime  of  peculiar  turpi- 
tude. These  Mendip  miners  manifested  a  mingling  of 
superstitious  dread,  and  of  faithful  loyalty  to  each  other, 
in  their  strict  rule  that  the  body  of  a  miner  who  had 
been  killed  in  a  drift  must  be  dug  out,  at  any  cost,  and 
given  Christian  burial,  before  a  stroke  of  work  would 
be  done  elsewhere  by  a  single  miner.  They  also  had 
local  laws  respecting  the  explorations  of  waste  ground, 
and  rights  of  discoverers,  which  were  always  respected. 

Indeed,  local  mining-customs  have  existed  in  Corn- 
wall "  from  time  immemorial,"  as  the  King's  Bench  Law 
Reports  tell  us.  Miners'  rights  and  privileges  were 
definitely  settled  centuries  ago,  and  have  been  tena- 
ciously held  ever  since  by  the  descendants  of  those 
whom  the  varied  mineral  wealth  of  the  Cornish  land 
first  attracted  to  its  sea-girt  cliffs  and  granitic  moors. 


30  MINING-CAMPS. 

The  custom  prevailed,  even  within  the  past  twenty 
years,  that  any  person  might  enter  upon  the  waste 
land  of  another,  mark  out  a  plot  of  ground,  send  a 
description  to  the  stannaries'  court,  and  lay  claim  to 
it,  provided  that  he  proposed  to  work  it  himself  "in 
good  faith."  In  the  early  part  of  this  century,  a  written 
description  was  required,  just  as  in  Western  camps  a 
written  claim-notice  is  necessary ;  but  in  still  earlier 
times  a  verbal  statement  was  considered  sufficient.  The 
written  notice  was  read  in  the  stannaries'  court  at  three 
successive  meetings;  when,  if  no  valid  objection  was 
raised  by  any  person,  the  court  accepted  it,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  deliver  possession  to  the  "bounder,"  who 
then  had  exclusive  right  to  mine  for  tin  and  other  min- 
erals within  the  limits  of  his  "  bounds."  The  first  act 
of  the  owner  was  to  define  the  corners  of  his  property 
by  rearing  piles  of  turf  and  stones,  or  by  sinking  small 
square  pits.  It  has  always  been  the  "  custom  "  to  mark 
claims  thus  in  Cornwall.  When  the  earliest  miners 
of  the  region  recognized  "  mining-claims  "  as  property, 
and  began  to  ordain  and  enforce  a  general  system  of 
obtaining  them,  they  had  taken  a  most  significant  step 
towards  organization. 

The  possession  of  this  "  tin-bound,"  thus  acquired  by 
"taking  it  up,"  —  to  use  the  American  expression, — 
involved  the  payment  of  a  tax  known  as  "  toll-tin  "  to 
the  owner  of  the  land.  This  percentage  varied  ac- 
cording to  the  yield  of  the  district,  but  not  according 
to  the  yield  of  that  particular  shaft.  In  other  words, 
the  owner  of  the  soil  and  the  "  bounder "  of  the  mine 
were  both  subject  to  the  usual  rule  in  this  regard,  and 
no  one  need  make  a  separate  bargain  unless  they  chose. 
In  Cornwall,  and  also  among  the  miners  of  the  "  King's 
Field  "  in  Derbyshire,  and  in  the  "  Forest  of  Dean,"  the 


CUSTOMS   OF   CORNWALL.  31 

lord  of  the  soil  was  usually  considered  as  entitled  to 
one-fifteenth  of  the  gross  ore-yield  of  each  shaft  sunk 
by  a  "bounder,"  said  ore  being  "delivered  at  the 
mouth  of  the  pit."  As  high  as  one-tenth  of  the  ore, 
and  as  low  as  one-twentieth,  have  been  given  in  the 
tin-mining  districts. 

The  right  to  a  "bound"  was  inheritable  property, 
and  might  be  transferred  by  sale ;  but  neglect  to  work 
it  caused  forfeiture  to  the  owner  of  the  soil,  or,  by  de- 
nouncement, to  another  miner.  The  landmarks  of  the 
"bound"  must  be  renewed  annually,  and  kept  distinct 
and  in  good  condition.  This  reverence  and  care  for 
landmarks  is  a  characteristic  of  all  law-abiding  and 
mighty  races;  and  the  varied  customs  by  which  the 
boundaries  of  districts  and  kingdoms,  and  changes  in 
the  ownership  of  tracts  of  land,  were  fixed  in  the  memo- 
ries of  men,  are  highly  curious  and  deeply  interesting. 
In  ancient  times  the  "  thoths "  or  tribal  landmarks 
were  often  burial-mounds  of  wise  chieftains  and  puis- 
sant warriors  who  still  guarded  the  frontiers.  On  the 
border-land,  national  games,  annual  fairs,  and  public 
assemblies  were  held.  And,  of  land  transfers,  we  read 
in  the  Book  of  Ruth,  "  Now  this  was  the  manner  in 
former  time  in  Israel,  concerning  redeeming,  and  con- 
cerning changing,  for  to  confirm  all  things:  a  man 
plucked  off  his  shoe,  and  gave  it  to  his  neighbor,  and 
this  was  a  testimony  in  Israel."  In  the  village  com- 
munes of  our  Germanic  ancestors,  "field  and  homestead 
passed  from  man  to  man  by  the  delivery  of  a  turf  cut 
from  its  soil."  The  annals  of  Salem,  Mass.,  state  that 
in  1695  a  homestead  there  was  transferred  by  "  turffe 
and  twigg,"  ^  an  unconscious  survival  of  the  customs  of 

1  See  Dr.  H.  B.  Adams:  Germanic  Origin  of  New-England  towns. 
Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  1st  series,  Local  Institutions. 


82  MINING-CAMPS. 

those  forest-villages  whose  freemen  dwelt  around  their 
moot-hills,  or  gathered  for  council  beneath  the  sacred 
oaks  of  the  Odenwald.  Other  races,  too,  have  trans- 
ferred land  with  similar  formalities :  when,  in  1670,  the 
Raritan  Indians  made  their  final  sale  of  Staten  Island 
to  Gov.  Lovelace,  they  "  brought  a  branch  of  every  sort 
of  tree  and  shrub  that  grew  on  the  island,  for  a  sign ; 
reserving  only  two  species  used  in  their  basket-work." 

Transfers  of  mineral  lands,  since  the  dawn  of  history, 
have  been  accompanied  with  quite  as  much  formality 
as  that  attending  the  transfer  of  agricultural  property, 
or  of  holdings  in  tribal  community  lands.  The  miners 
of  the  California  camps  showed  as  much  anxiety  to 
have  distinct  landmarks  and  bounds  as  did  the  Corn- 
ish and  the  Thuringian  miners  of  centuries  ago ;  and  at 
least  once,  as  late  as  1856,  a  transfer  of  mining-property 
in  California  was  completed  by  the  gift,  before  witnesses, 
of  a  handful  of  gold-bearing  gravel  from  the  claim. 
The  man  who  did  this  was  a  miner,  whom  the  writer 
met  as  prospector  many  years  after.  "  Why  did  you  do 
it?"  we  asked  :  "  was  not  verbal  possession  sufficient?" 

"Mebbe  so :  but  my  father,  and  his  father  before  him, 
always  gave  a  bit  o'  land  away  to  wind  up  a  bargain ; 
an'  the  rule's  good  for  a  minin'-claim,  I'll  allow." 

Leaving,  however,  for  subsequent  chapters,  an  analy- 
sis of  the  land  laws  and  customs  of  modern  mining- 
camps,  we  return  to  the  customs  of  the  tin-miners  of 
Cornwall,  in  many  particulars  so  similar  to  those  adopted 
centuries  later  by  the  free  miners  of  the  Pacific  coast. 
The  size  of  their  "  tin-bounds,"  so  carefully  marked  out 
and  set  apart,  varied  greatly  according  to  the  old  Cornish 
rule.  It  must  be  "reasonable,"  but  uniformity  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  thought  essential;  the  point  being  to 
include  sufficient  surface  to  give  space  for  proper  work- 


CUSTOMS   OF  COENWALL.  83 

ings.  The  entire  system  of  "taking  up  claims"  and 
securing  tliem,  in  the  Cornwall  districts,  during  the  six- 
teenth, seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centuries,  was  pre- 
cise and  effective,  and  "probably,"  as  one  of  the  English 
law-reports  says,  "  was  the  law  of  an  extinct  kingdom 
of  Cornwall." 

The  Cumberland  silver-miners  in  the  time  of  Eliza- 
beth had  special  legal  privileges,  and  the  justices  of 
assize  went  there  in  their  circuit.  This  was  one  of  the 
"royal  mines,"  owing  to  its  proportion  of  silver.^  They 
do  not  seem  to  have  had  a  court  of  their  own  for 
mining-cases ;  but  the  "  smelters,  refiners,  and  miners 
held  public  meetings,"  as  recorded  by  Bushell  in  1641. 
Their  local  customs  were  much  the  same  as  in  Cornwall. 
Their  "  tolls  "  were  paid,  however,  directly  to  the  sove- 
reign. In  Cornwall  such  dues  were  paid  to  the  duke, 
whenever  such  a  nobleman  existed. 

The  Duchy  of  Cornwall  was  created  in  the  fifteenth 
year  of  Henry  III.  Edward  III.  made  his  son  the  first 
Duke  of  Cornwall,  and  gave  him  "all  profits  of  the 
court  of  stannary  and  of  the  mines."  Slowly,  and  with 
great  difficulty,  the  ancient  tenures  and  privileges  of 
many  of  the  tin  and  copper  miners  were  lessened  and 
abridged;  and  so  it  soon  came  to  pass,  that  different 
degrees  of  tenantcy  were  recognized.     In  the  most  im- 

1  The  well-known  definitions  of  Blackstone  and  Plowden  need  not 
be  quoted  here.  But  that  quaint  and  rare  book,  "  A  Just  and  True  Re- 
monstrance of  his  Majestie's  Mines-Royall  to  His  Majestie,"  published 
in  1641,  contains  a  "  declaration  of  learned  lawyers  what  a  Mine-Royall 
is,  according  to  presedents,"  signed  by  the  king's  sergeant-at-law,  and 
thirty  other  jurists.  They  say,  "  Although  the  gold  or  silver  contained 
in  the  base  mettall  of  a  mine  in  the  lands  of  a  subject  bee  of  lesse  valew 
than  the  baser  mettall;  yet,  if  the  gold  or  silver  doe  countervaile  the 
charge  of  the  refining,  or  bee  of  more  worth  than  the  base  mettall  spent 
in  refining  it,  this  is  a  Mine-Royall,  and  as  well  the  base  mettall  as  the 
gold  and  silver  in  it,  belongs  by  prerogative  to  the  crowne." 


34  MINING-CAMPS. 

portant  and  numerous  class,  the  bounds  came  to  be 
fixed,  or  at  least  re-examined,  each  seven  years,  and 
re-allotted  by  an  assession  court.  In  the  "  Caption  of 
Seizin  "  of  the  manor  of  Tewington,  in  the  time  of  Ed- 
ward III.,  there  is  a  list  of  free  tenants  who  hold  "  in 
socage  "  tracts  of  from  five  to  twelve  acres  apiece,  and 
pay  "  toll-tin  "  upon  the  product  of  all  shafts  they  sink. 
Besides  these  miners,  there  were,  so  states  this  caption, 
"  free  conventionaries,"  or  miners  who  held  and  worked 
much  smaller  tracts  on  the  seven-year  basis;  and  the 
sort  of  land-tenure  system  which  prevailed  in  these 
peculiar  "  convention ary  holdings  "  was  a  highly  inter- 
esting "survival"  of  ancient  Keltic  forms  analogous  to 
those  of  Brittany.  Concanen's  special  report  of  the 
English  law  case  of  Rowe  vs,  Brenton  describes  the 
system  in  full.^ 

In  the  lead-districts,  the  most  interesting  local  insti- 
tution was  the  bar-mote  court,  and  its  executive  officer 
called  the  "bar-master."  It  was  his  duty  to  do  justice 
between  miner  and  miner,  between  miner  and  "  adven- 
turer," and  between  all  the  miners  and  the  lord  of  the 
manor.  The  "adventurers"  were  what  the  Western 
miner  calls  "prospectors;"  and  they  have  played  a  very 
important  part  in  English  mining-history,  developing 
the  richest  of  mineral  districts  by  their  skill  and  energy. 
Local  law  in  the  lead-districts  awarded  to  the  finder 
"  the  largest  share "  of  a  new  mine.  Disputes  were 
tried  at  the  bar-mote ;  and  over  this  court  the  deputy 
stewards  presided,  and  the  bar-master  was  present.     A 

1  Mr.  Frederick  Pollock,  in  **  The  Land  Laws" (English  Citizen  Series: 
Macmillan  &  Co.,  1883),  speaks  of  ancient  Cornish  laws,  and  of  these 
"  conventionary  "  seven-year  holdings  (pp.  49,  204).  He  says  that  in  1844 
certain  conventionary  tenants  of  the  Duchy  of  Cornwall  were  enfran- 
chised, and  does  not  know  whether  or  not  other  examples  of  this  ancient 
tenure  still  remain. 


STANNARY-COURTS,  BAR-MOTES,  AND  TIN-BOUNDS.    35 

jury  was  summoned,  composed  of  miners,  and  questions 
were  tried  before  them.  Arrears  ^of  the  duties  of  "  lot 
and  cope  "  were  properly  presented  by  the  officers  of 
the  manor.^  In  modern  times  English  law-reports  show 
clearly  the  continued  existence,  and  the  recognition  in 
mining  jurisprudence,  of  most  of  the  customs  and  local 
usages  of  tin,  lead,  and  copper  miners,  alluded  to  in  the 
preceding  pages.  Local  customs,  as  modified  by  Acts 
of  Parliament,  are  still  in  force  in  Cornwall,  Derbyshire, 
and  other  mining-districts. 

Throughout  England  the  rule  has  held  good,  that 
mining  requires  much  knowledge,  skill,  and  special 
training ;  creating  in  the  past  a  constant  tendency  tow- 
ards separate  courts,  towards  denial  of  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  lower  civil  courts,  and  towards  a  more  direct 
dealing  with  higher  courts  of  appeal.  The  Cornish 
stannaries  court  of  to-day  is  one  of  the  survivals  of  this 
long-continued  struggle,  and  so  is  the  bar-mote  court 
of  the  lead-districts.  In  the  rocky  and  agriculturally 
worthless  regions,  where  for  many  centuries  the  entire 
community  was  dependent  upon  mining  for  its  liveli- 
hood, the  miners  evidently  governed  themselves  long 
before  there  was  any  Duke  of  Cornwall  or  manorial 
claims :  they  recognized  the  liberty  of  the  prospector  and 
the  sacred ness  of  the  claim-stake,  in  that  remote  past 
when  "  stream-tin  "  gathered  from  the  river-channels 
was  the  chief  mineral  resource  of  the  region,  and  the 
veins  of  ore  were  only  superficially  worked.  To  such 
conclusions,  at  least,  the  nature  and  evident  antiquity 
of  the  mining-customs  of  Cornwall  would  certainly 
point.  They  seem  to  be  fragments  and  remains  of 
ancient  laws  adopted  in  meetings  of  freemen,  for  the 

1  Arkwright  vs.  Cantrell,  7  Ad.  and  E.  p.  5G5. 


36  MmiNG-CAMPS. 

purpose  of  securing  equal  rights,  and  imposing  equal 
duties  upon  all  within  their  jurisdiction.  As  a  promi- 
nent California  mining-lawyer  once  said  to  the  writer, 
"  Those  old  Cornish  miners,  with  their  local  freedom 
and  self-government,  deserved  to  have  been  born  four 
centuries  later,  as  prospectors  in  the  Sierra  placers." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EAKLY  MINING  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  first  English  settlers  in  America  hoped  to  find 
great  mineral  wealth ;  and  the  royal  charters  in  most 
cases  reserved  "  all  mines,"  and  claimed  as  rent  one-fifth 
of  all  gold  or  silver  ore,  "  to  be  delivered  free  of  charge 
at  the  pit's  mouth."  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Vir- 
ginia, Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  others  of  the  early 
colonies,  had  clauses  of  this  kind  in  their  charters.^  But 
the  "  gold-ores "  invariably  proved  worthless,  much  to 
the  disappointment  of  the  merchants  in  the  Virginia  and 
the  Massachusetts  companies,  who  had  hoped  for  other 
resources  besides  those  of  fishing,  trading,  and  farming. 
The  "rights-royal"  never  amounted  to  any  thing;  and,  \ 
in  the  process  of  time,  mining-jurisprudence  came  to  be  i 
founded  upon  common  law  merely,  the  mineral  being  I 
held  to  belong  to  the  soil,  and  conveyed  by  one  and  the 
same  title  with  agricultural  lands. 

There  is  little  of  value  for  our  investigation  in  the 
scattered  attempts  at  mining  in  Colonial  and  Revolution- 
ary days.  The  first  on  record  appears  to  be  that  men- 
tioned in  Stith's  History  of  Virginia,  —  the  opening  of 
an  iron  mine  in  1622  at  Falling  Creek,  near  James  v 
River.  The  next  was  probably  in  New  England,  where 
Governor  John  Winthrop  in  1657  obtained  a  license 

1  Bainbridge,  ♦'  Law  of  Mines,"  chapter  ii. 

37 


38  MINING-CAMPS. 

to  work  "  mines  of  lead,  tin,  copper,  or  any  mineral," 
and  to  "enjoy  forever"  said  mines,  and  all  woods, 
lands,  and  things  necessary  for  their  workings,  "  within 
two  or  three  miles."  He  proceeded  to  prospect  exten- 
sively ;  and  in  1661  received  a  special  grant  of  mineral 
lands  near  Middletown,  Connecticut,  where  he  opened 
and  worked  mines.  President  Stiles's  Diary  says,  speak- 
ing of  the  "  Governor's  Ring,"  a  mountain  in  East  Had- 
dam :  "  Governor  Trumbull  has  often  told  me  that  this 
was  the  place  to  which  Governor  Winthrop  of  New 
London  used  to  resort  with  his  servant,  and  spend 
three  weeks  in  roasting  ores,  and  assaying  metals,  and 
casting  gold  rings."  The  mine  was  worked  to  a  depth 
of  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  with  extensive  drifts. 
The  abandoned  shaft  was  discovered  in  1852,  and  after- 
wards re-opened,  though  unprofitably.  The  first  blast- 
furnace in  the  New-England  Colonies  was  built  by  Lam- 
bert Despard  at  Mattakeeset  Pond,  Plymouth  County, 
Massachusetts,  in  1702.  The  copper-miners  of  Simsbury, 
Connecticut,  received  their  charter  in  1709.  Arent 
Schuyler  began  to  work  the  cupriferous  ores  near  the 
Passaic,  seven  miles  from  Jersey  City,  in  1719.  Ac- 
cording to  the  centennial  address  of  Mr.  D.  D.  Field, 
Middletown,  Connecticut,  in  1853,  a  lead-mine  was 
worked  in  that  town  long  before  the  Revolution ;  and 
from  May,  1775,  till  February,  1778,  this  mine  was 
operated  for  the  citizens  "by  a  committee  of  three, 
Jabez  Hamlin,  Mathew  Talcott,  and  Titus  Hosmer." 

Such  efforts,  of  which  there  were  many,  were  merely 
business  or  war  enterprises,  and  had  little  or  no  organiz- 
ing influence  upon  society.  Somewhat  more  than  this, 
however,  may  be  said  with  justice  of  some  of  the  famous 
gold-camps  of  the  South,  early  in  the  present  century. 
In  Spottsylvania  County  there  were  numbers  of  placers, 


EARLY  MINESTG  IN  THE  UKITED   STATES.  39 

and  from  one  claim  twenty  feet  square  ten  thousand 
dollars  was  taken ;  in  Louisa  County,  one  placer-claim 
yielded  seven  thousand  dollars ;  and  near  the  Rapidan 
over  forty  thousand  dollars  was  taken  out  by  a  miner 
from  his  placer  property.  These  instances  are  noted  in 
Mr.  Taylor's  report  (1867)  on  "  Gold-mining  East  of  the 
Rockies. "  There  were  also  some  famous  mines  in  Buck- 
ingham County,  Virginia,  and  others  in  Abbeville 
District,  South  Carolina ;  but  those  of  Rowan  and 
Mecklenburg  Counties,  North  Carolina,  and  particu- 
larly the  placer-mines  upon  the  tributaries  of  the  Great 
Pedee,  produced  hosts  of  prospectors,  who  took  up 
claims  and  worked  mines  according  to  a  sort  of  local 
law,  subject,  however,  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  county 
authorities.  Wheeler's  History  of  North  Carolina  gives 
interesting  illustrations  of  this  mining-era  and  its  ex- 
citements; its  crude  organization,  its  "big  nuggets" 
(that  of  1803  weighing  twenty-eight  pounds),  its  cul- 
mination, and  its  decay.  West  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  along 
the  famous  French  Broad  River,  a  number  of  placer- 
miners  worked  for  half  a  century  on  small  claims  held 
by  possessory  rights.  The  Georgia  and  Alabama  gold- 
miners  had  a  wider  field ;  and  the  operations  begun  iu 
1799,  in  valleys  that  De  Soto  visited,  have  continued 
with  greater  or  less  energy  ever  since.  None  of  the 
mining-districts  of  the  South  possessed  any  organization 
separate  from  that  of  the  county,  but  some  of  them  had 
simple  local  regulations  in  regard  to  the  size  of  claims. 
In  one  case,  that  of  the  Hale  mining-tract,  Lancaster 
District,  South  Carolina,  over  fifty  years  ago,  the  system 
had  fostered  individual  freedom,  though  to  the  great 
detriment  of  all  the  mines.  The  owner  of  the  land 
allowed  any  persons  to  come  in,  and  work  where  they 
chose,  only  agreeing  to  sell  all  gold  found  to  him  for 


// 


f' 


40  MINING-CAMPS. 

sixty  cents  per  pennyweight,  when  it  was  really  worth 
ninety  cents,  thus  paying  a  ground-rent  of  one-third 
the  gross  yield.  The  alluvial  deposits  were,  however, 
so  rich,  that  many  prospectors  accepted  the  terms. 
They  used  "pans  and  rockers,"  dug  holes  in  search 
for  "pockets,"  worked  out  the  rich  places,  recklessly 
stripped  the  mine,  and  then  deserted  it.  Nothing  per- 
manent could  come  from  such  a  wasteful  and  destructive 
system.  But  as  soon  as  gold  was  discovered  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  all  these  old  camps  of  the  South  sent  well- 
/  I  trained  miners  and  prospectors  to  the  new  placers ;  and 
there  they  found  that  larger  freedom  in  which  local 
mining-institutions  were  rapidly  developed. 

The  attitude  of  the  state  and  national  governments 
towards  mining-interests  affords  a  much  more  important 
theme  than  is  offered  by  any  of  the  Southern  gold-dis- 
coveries. Long  before  the  Revolution,  most  of  the  Col- 
onies had  recognized  the  rights  of  land-owners  over  all 
.  the  contents  of  the  soil ;  so  that  when,  in  1785,  the  Con- 
I  tinental  Congress  reserved  one-third  of  the  gold,  silver, 
lead,  copper,  and  some  other  minerals  found  within 
the  States,  the  principle  aroused  the  greatest  opposition. 
It  was  only  an  extension  of  the  "  crown-riglit "  idea  of 
the  civil  law ;  but  the  rights  so  long  recognized  by  im- 
memorial custom  and  prescription  in  Germany,  the  Elec- 
torates, France,  Portugal,  Spain,  and  other  dominions 
of  Europe,  seemed  so  "  un-American,"  that  their  asser- 
tion was  soon  abandoned. 

The  United  States  next  tried  the  plan  of  attempting 
to  hold,  and  lease  to  the  highest  bidders,  the  salt-springs 
and  lead-mines.  After  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana, 
lands  containing  lead  ores  were  reserved  from  sale ;  and 
in  1807  the  President  received  authority  to  lease  them 
for  five  years,  in  tracts  of  not  more  than  three  miles 


EARLY  MINING  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  41 

square,  afterwards  reduced  to  one  square  mile,  —  the 
return  of  six  per  cent  of  the  ores  being  required. 
Under  this  system  the  first  lease  was  issued  in  1822; 
but  after  1834  many  of  the  miners  and  smelters  in 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas 
positively  refused  to  pay  rents,  because  there  had 
been  a  vast  number  of  fraudulent  entries  of  mineral 
lands  as  agricultural  lands,  and  the  system  appeared 
unjust.  By  1846  this  lease-system  became  untenable,  j 
and  was  definitely  abandon ed.^  Acts  of  Congress  then  I 
restored  to  the  several  States  the  right  to  sell  their  salt- 
springs,  and  also  opened  to  pre-emption  as  public  lands 
the  hitherto-leased  tracts  in  the  lead  and  copper  mining- 
districts. 

The  history  of  the  disputes,  protests  of  pioneers,  and 
litigations  among  rival  claimants,  which  led  at  last  to 
the  abandonment  of  the  lease-system,  is  long  and  highly 
interesting.  It  extends  over  nearly  the  first  half  of  the 
century.  The  numerous  complications  which  arose  out 
of  the  entangled  condition  of  Spanish  and  French  land- 
titles  in  the  provinces  of  upper  and  lower  Louisiana, 
involved  the  best  mining-districts  of  Missouri  and  Iowa, 
and  test-cases  were  fought  from  court  to  court  until 

1  The  Annual  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  1865  says,  | 
speaking  of  the  Pacific  Coast  mineral  lands,  "  A  system  of  lease-hold,  / 
.  .  .  after  the  lessons  which  have  been  taught  of  its  practical  results  in  ; 
the  lead  and  copper  districts,  cannot,  of  course,  be  recommended."  , 

The  course  of  United-States  legislation  up  to  this  point  can  be  synop- 
sized  as  follows:  Ordinance,  May  20,  1785,  reserved  one-third  of  the 
gold,  silver,  lead,  and  copper;  Act  of  March  3,  1807,  dealt  with  lead- 
mines;  Act  of  March  3,  1829,  authorized  their  sale  in  Missouri;  Act  ot 
Sept.  4,  1841,  excluded  salines  and  mines  from  pre-emption;  Case  of 
U.S.  V8.  Gear,  1845,  confirmed  the  previous  act;  April  18,  1846,  mineral 
lands  of  Isle  Royal,  Lake  Superior,  reserved ;  July  16,  1846,  lead-mines 
in  Illinois,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  and  Iowa,  offered  for  sale  at  two  dollars 
and  a  half  per  acre ;  March  1, 1847,  lauds  in  Lake  Superior  district  offered 
at  five  dollars  per  acre. 


42  MINING-CAMPS. 

settled  by  the  highest  authority  in  the  land.  The  lead- 
claims  of  upper  Louisiana  introduced  hitherto  unknown 
elements  into  our  jurisprudence.  Our  government,  act- 
ing in  accordance  with  the  law  of  nations,  had  agreed 
to  recognize  all  lawful  titles  to  lands  in  the  ceded 
territory.^ 

Owing  to  these  causes,  it  happened  that  American 
lawyers  who  settled  in  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis  early 
in  the  century  found  that  a  knowledge  of  French  and 
Spanish  law  was  essential  to  success.  As  regards  land- 
titles,  the  courts  of  Louisiana  have  decided  that  the 
colonial  Spanish  government  of  such  rulers  as  Galvez, 
Miro,  and  Carondelet,  recognized  verbal  as  well  as  writ- 
ten grants.  The  grants  made  by  French  officers  during 
the  ownership  of  Louisiana  by  France  were  never  con- 
tested, but  most  of  the  Spanish  grants  were.  Land- 
grants  in  some  cases  were  referred  for  final  decision  to 
the  captain-general  of  Cuba,  within  whose  jurisdiction 
were  Florida  and  Louisiana.  The  Indians  were  assigned 
one  square  league  about  their  villages,  including  the 
town-site.  A  primitive  land-title  existing  in  any  tribe 
was  never  recognized.  Absolute  ownership  in  their 
village-lands  was  not  allowed,  severe  restrictions  being 
placed  upon  its  sale  and  alienation.  If  all  died  or  re- 
moved, the  lands  reverted  to  the  crown.  A  simple  order 
from  the  governor  was  sufficient  to  establish  these  reser- 
vations.    It  thus  followed  that  grants  by  Indian  tribes 


1  Among  the  important  decisions  that  bear  upon  Spanish  and  French 
claims,  Indian  rights,  mineral  lands,  and  United-States  title,  are  the 
following:  Sanchez  vs.  Gonzales,  Louisiana  Rep.,  11  M.,  p.  207;  Le  Blanc 
vs.  Victor,  3  L.,  47;  Landry  vs.  Martin,  15  L.,  1;  De  Vallt's.  Choppin,  15 
L.,  566;  Murdock  vs.  Gurley,  5  R.,  457;  Rehand  vs.  Nero,  5  M.;  Moes  vs. 
Gilliard,  7  N.  S.,  314;  Brooks  vs.  Norris,  6  R.,  175;  Breaux  vs.  Johns,  4  A., 
147;  Choteau  vs.  Molony,  16  How  (U.S.),  203;  Wilson  vs.  Smith,  Yeager 
5,  347  (Mo.  Rep.);  Delassas  vs.  United  States,  9  Peters,  117. 


EARLY  MTN-LNG  IN   THE   UNITED   STATES.  43 

to  white  men  anywhere  within  the  Louisiana  territory 
required  acceptance  and  confirmation  from  the  Spanish 
authorities.  A  noted  case  which  reached  the  Supreme 
Court  in  1853  decided  the  ownership  of  the  Dubuque 
lead-mines  adversely  to  the  claims  of  those  who  held 
under  title  from  scheming  Julien  Dubuque,  the  old 
Indian  trader  and  pioneer,  who,  in  1788,  had  received 
from  the  five  chief  villages  of  the  Fox  Indians  in  coun- 
cil assembled  the  gift  of  an  illy  defined  tract  of  nearly 
one  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land.^  Albert  Gallatin 
also  made  a  report  to  the  President  upon  the  Dubuque 
claims,  saying  that  the  tract  was  undoubtedly  govern- 
ment land.  In  1832  there  was  trouble  among  the  rival 
claimants  to  the  mineral  soil ;  and  in  1833  troops  were 
called  into  requisition,  who  drove  off  one  party,  and 
burned  their  cabins.  The  government  then  leased  the 
land  to  the  miners. 

The  St.  Vrain  concession  of  mineral  lands  was  de- 
cided to  have  been  perfected  under  the  requirements  of 
Spanish  law;  and  so  to  be  outside  of  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  act  of  1807,  creating  a  board  of  commissioners  for 
the  re-adjustment  of  land-claims.  The  ''inchoate  title" 
of  the  descendants  of  "  Pierre  Charles  Dehault,  Knight, 
Lord  of  Delassus  Luzieres,  and  Knight  of  the  great 
cross  of  the  royal  order  of  St.  Michael,"  covered  a  square 
league  on  St.  Francis  River,  Missouri,  containing  valu- 
able lead-mines,  which  had  been  worked  by  prehistoric 
miners,  and  were  re-opened  by  the  knight  of  many  titles 
in  the  days  of  Baron  Carondelet,  who  purchased,  in  the 
name  of  the  Spanish  Government,  thirty  thousand  pounds 


1  Le  Sueur,  the  French  explorer,  discovered  mineral  on  this  Dubuque 
tract  in  1700  or  1701.  The  earliest  notice  of  mines  in  the  North- West, 
however,  is  contained  in  the  report  of  Jesuit  missionaries,  who  in  1660 
found  copper-ore  in  the  Lake-Superior  region. 


44  MINING-CAMPS. 

of  lead  annually  for  five  years.  This  title,  legal  as  far 
as  it  went,  but  never  made  complete,  was  confirmed  by 
the  United  States. 

But  while  the  courts  and  the  lawyers  were  deter- 
mining the  status  of  hundreds  of  varying  claims  under 
Spanish  and  French  titles,  the  region  was  being  settled 
by  hardy  and  energetic  pioneers,  long  before  the 
United-States  Government  had  arranged  to  sell  lands. 
The  immediate  result  was  the  formation  of  "  squatter 
associations,"  to  take  up,  place  on  record,  and  hold 
land-claims.  Professor  Macy  of  Iowa  College,  in  a 
paper  upon  "Institutional  Beginnings  in  a  Western 
State,"  read  before  the  Historical  and  Political  Science 
Association  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Nov.  2,  1883, 
and  since  then  published  as  No.  7  of  the  second  series 
of  the  "University  Studies  in  Historical  and  Political 
Science,"  has  well  described  the  claim-laws  of  these 
agricultural  settlers,  whose  guiding  principle  was  to 
give  each  man  his  fair  and  equal  chance. 

In  the  mineral  region  of  Iowa,  we  find  early  organi- 
zation. Professor  Macy  tells  us,  that  June  17,  1830, 
the  Dubuque  lead-miners  assembled,  and  appointed  a 
committee  of  five  to  draught  regulations,  which  were 
unanimously  adopted.  They  agreed  to  live  under  "  the 
code  of  Illinois,"  with  the  following  additions :  — 

"Article  I.  That  each  and  every  man  shall  hold  two  hun- 
dred yards  square  of  ground,  working  said  ground  one  day  in  six. 

"  Article  II.  We  further  agree,  that  there  shall  be  chosen,  by 
a  majority  of  the  miners  present,  a  person  who  shall  hold  this 
article,  and  grant  letters  of  arbitration,  on  application  having  been 
made ;  and  that  said  letters  of  arbitration  shall  be  obligatory  on 
the  parties  concerned  so  applying." 

These  simple  laws,  thus  adopted  by  the  lead-miners 
in  public  meeting,  form  the  earliest,  and  for  thirteen 


EAELY  MINma  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES.  45 

years  the  only,  local  code  of  Americans  on  the  soil 
of  Iowa.  In  1833  the  Indian  title  to  these  mineral 
lands  was  extinguished,  and  within  a  year  Dubuque 
contained  two  thousand  inhabitants.  May  20,  1834, 
the  miners  tried  and  condemned  a  man  for  murder, 
and  a  month  later  policed  the  town,  and  executed 
him,  after  the  Governor  of  Missouri  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  had  been  applied  to  for 
pardon  by  the  prisoner's  friends,  and  had  replied  that 
"the  pardoning  power  rested  with  those  who  passed 
the  sentence." 

The  early  local  history  of  this  interesting  mineral 
region  shows  most  clearly  the  working  of  forces  which 
reached  their  fuller  development  only  in  the  compara- 
tive isolation  of  later  camps.  Lead-miners  of  Iowa,  tin- 
bounders  of  Cornwall,  early  silver-miners  of  Germany, 
all  recognized  the  claim-stake,  dwelt  under  equal  laws 
of  their  own  creation,  and  tried  and  punished  their 
criminals. 

Furthermore,  as  we  have  observed  in  the  course  of  this 
chapter,  the  lead  and  copper  miners  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi came  into  contact,  in  many  cases,  with  old  Span- 
ish grants  and  concessions.  Here;  in  the  heart  of  the 
continent,  midway  between  Lakes  and  Gulf,  the  Ameri- 
can miner  first  met  the  Spanish  influence  that  he  was 
to  find  once  more,  in  far  stronger  forms,  on  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific.  Americans  had  no  sooner  controlled  the 
lead-regions  of  Dubuque  and  St.  Joseph,  than  they 
pushed  westward,  in  the  years  preceding  the  great  gold 
discoveries  of  California;  there  to  meet  a  current  of 
institutional  development  that  had  come  from  Spain  by 
way  of  Mexico,  not  by  way  of  lower  Louisiana,  and  so 
had  retained  far  more  of  its  original  characteristics.  It 
is  to  this  Spanish-American  realm  that  we  must  now 


46  MINING-CAMPS. 

turn  our  attention,  in  order  to  understand  the  elements 
underlying  California  life,  and  the  conditions  that 
favored  peculiar  local  organizations  in  the  mining-camps 
of  the  Sierra  and  the  Rockies. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    SPANISH-AMERICAN    SYSTEM    OF    GOVERNMENT.— 
MINING-LAWS   OF  MEXICO. 

Spanish  rule,  and  the  first  attempts  of  Spaniards  to 
mine  in  the  New  W6rld,  are  of  especial  significance  by 
reason  of  sharp  institutional  contrasts  to  the  forms  of 
Germanic  development;  also  because  of  the  influence 
subsequently  exerted  upon  the  South- West,  and  the  Pa- 
cific coast  of  the  United  States.  The  growth  of  the 
Spanish  system  of  government,  and  the  complete  sepa- 
ration of  mining-courts  from  civil  courts  that  for  a  time 
existed  in  Mexico,  form  an  essential  part  of  our  investi- 
gation. 

The  first  Spanish  colonists  were  lazy  and  lustful, 
reckless  and  turbulent.  They  desolated  the  fairest 
isles  of  the  West  Indies,  they  rebelled  against  their 
governors,  and  tl^^ey  drove  to  suicide  the  unhappy  race 
they  had  enslaved.  Everywhere  under  their  system, 
with  its  strange  contrasts  of  stately  indifference  and  vol- 
canic energy,  the  Spaniards  forgot  their  own  Castilian 
proverb  of  awful  significance,  '^  Dios  consiente  pero  no 
para  siempre  "  (God  may  consent,  but  not  forever). 

The  only  judicial  officer  of  these  early  colonists  was 
the  alcalde,  a  district  judge,  who  possessed  a  great 
variety  of  powers,  as  will  be  shown  in  a  subsequent 
chapter.  The  first  mention  we  find  of  this  officer  is  at 
Cuba,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century.     The  first  mili- 

47 


48  MINING-CAMPS. 

tary  rule  of  Mexico  brooked  no  interference  from  local 
officers  of  any  sort ;  but  Cortez  soon  developed  great 
administrative  skill  and  energy,  and  rapidly  introduced 
the  local  institutions  known  to  Old  Spain. 

It  is,  however,  to  a  colony  and  a  mining-camp  that 
we  must  look  for  the  best  Spanish  example  of  elected 
officers  and  local  organization.  Early  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  about  a  hundred  Spaniards,  led  by  Enciso, 
founded  the  town  of  "  Santa  Maria  de  la  Antigua  del 
Darien."  The  afterwards  famous  Vasco  Nunez  de  Bal- 
boa, roused  by  some  acts  of  petty  tyranny,  persuaded 
the  colonists  to  depose  Enciso,  and  elect  himself  chief 
alcalde,  with  an  assistant  and  a  regidor,  A  little  later, 
in  1514  in  fact,  some  rich  gold-placers  were  discovered 
three  leagues  from  "  Santa  Maria  del  Darien ; "  and  a 
rush  to  the  new  mines  was  the  immediate  result.  Al- 
most at  once  the  miners  organized.  They  elected  a 
mining-superintendent  and  a  surveyor  of  claims,  under 
whose  supervision  and  authority  plats  of  ground  twelve 
paces  square  were  measured  off  for  each  able-bodied 
miner ;  no  one  being  allowed  to  hold  or  to  work  more 
than  one  claim  at  a  time.  They  paid  the  royal  de- 
mands ;  but,  while  the  mines  lasted,  they  managed  their 
own  local  affairs  with  more  skill  and  energy  than 
miners  of  their  race  have  elsewhere  displayed.  Here, 
in  this  little  camp  of  Spaniards,  a  seed  of  local  self- 
government  had  been  planted ;  but  it  could  find  no  firm 
root  in  national  characteristics,  and  no  abiding  support 
from  national  institutions.  Instead  of  springing  up, 
bearing  fruit,  and  extending  itself  to  camp  after  camp 
northward  along  the  Isthmus  through  Central  America 
to  the  placers  of  Yucatan  and  Mexico,  its  blossom  fell 
to  the  earth  unfructified,  its  stem  withered  and  perished 
in  a  single  summer. 


SPANISH-AMERICAN  SYSTEM  OF  GOVEENMENT.      49 

Permanent  social  order,  and  organized  self-govern- 
ment, could  not  develop  from  the  early  Spanish  placer- 
mining,  any  more  than  from  the  gold-lust  of  Spanish 
leaders  like  Cortez  and  Pizarro.  Hither  and  thither 
through  the  New  World,  the  freebooters  of  Spain  had 
hastened,  searching  for  traces  of  gold,  as  wolves  follow 
the  scent  of  smoking  blood.  Impelled  by  this  passion, 
they  hewed  paths  through  tropic  forests,  crossed  des- 
erts, explored  unknown  seas,  illustrated  the  utmost 
valor,  cruelty,  endurance,  and  fanaticism,  and  unfurled 
the  intertwining  standards  of  Rome  and  Spain  at  al- 
most the  same  time  in  Amazonian  and  Floridian  for- 
ests, in  Patagonian  and  Oregonian  wildernesses,  and 
over  hills  of  Arkansas,  deserts  of  Arizona,  and  isles  of 
the  California  pearl-coast.  This  breathless  search  was, 
happily,  futile :  the  continents  held  no  more  semi- 
civilized  kingdoms  rich  in  treasures  of  gold.  By  the 
help  of  slaves,  the  baffled  eonquistadores  then  began  to 
develop  the  mineral  resources  of  New  Spain.  They 
still  sent  out  expeditions  by  land  to  follow  such  mi- 
rages as  the  Golden  Temple  of  Dabaiba,  and  fleets  to 
search  the  North  Pacific  for  the  fabled  Straits  of  An- 
nian ;  but  the  fever  of  exploration  had  nearly  run  its 
course.  Silver  and  gold  bearing  rock  soon  began  to  be 
worked  with  system  and  success.  Humboldt  says  that 
the  annual  gold-yield  of  America,  from  1492  to  1521, 
was  $250,000;  from  1521  to  1546,  it  was  $3,150,000. 
In  1545  Potosi  began  to  pour  forth  its  treasures,  and 
the  annual  yield  of  gold  and  silver  combined  was  $10,- 
300,000  for  the  sixty  years  after  that  discovery.  The 
ransom  of  Atahualpa  had  been  $20,000,000.  Jacob,  in 
his  "History  of  the  Precious  Metals,"  says  that  the 
mining-industry  of  Europe  was  greatly  stimulated  by 
the  mining  done  in  America;  that,  in  fourteen  years 


60  MINING-CAMPS. 

after  1516,  there  were  twenty-five  rich  veins  found  in 
Bohemia;  and  that,  between  1538  and  1562,  over  a 
thousand  leases  and  grants  of  new  mining-ground  were 
made  by  the  Bishopric  of  Salzburg. 

The  Mexican  system  of  civil  law,  as  transplanted 
from  the  overlordships  of  Castile  and  Aragon,  lasted, 
with  few  changes,  until  well  into  the  present  century ; 
and  its  more  abiding  local  forms  of  administration  still 
rule  the  land  that  Cortez  conquered.  The  principles 
upon  which  the  colonial  possessions  of  Spain  were  gov- 
erned, and  even  the  details  of  that  government,  present 
remarkable  parallels  to  the  complex  system  of  authority 
extended  by  Rome  over  her  subject  provinces.  Under 
Spain,  all  titles,  power,  and  dignity  flowed  from  the 
royal  throne,  as,  under  the  later  Roman  system,  they 
all  flowed  from  the  emperor.  The  viceroyalties  of 
Spain  in  Peru,  Grenada,  Mexico,  corresponded  with 
singular  fidelity  to  the  proconsulates  and  pro-prsetor- 
ships  of  Syria,  of  Gaul,  and  of  Spain  herself  under 
Rome.  As,  in  the  Roman  world,  hardly  any  two  citi3S 
bore  the  same  yoke,  or  occupied  exactly  identical  rela- 
tions to  the  central  government,  whether  that  of  senate 
or  of  emperor ;  so,  in  the  Spanish  empire,  hardly  two 
viceroys  had  equal  rank,  or  exercised  identical  powers. 
The  most  casual  observer  cannot  but  seize  upon  strik- 
ing similarities  and  instructive  contrasts  between  these 
vast  and  ultimately  unsuccessful  colonial  empires. 

The  Spanish  system  had  a  feudal  element,  in  that  the 
land,  and  the  Indians  as  attached  thereto,  were  divided 
among  the  colonists.  This  royal  gift  of  soil  and  people 
was  called  an  encomienda,  and  first  occurred  in  Hispa- 
niola,  extending  thence  to  all  the  Spanish  dominions. 
Cortez  made  a  provisional  repartimiento,  or  division  of 
the  natives;  and  this  '^yas  re-adjusted  by  a  royal  audien- 


SPANISH-AMEEIOAK   SYSTEM   OF   GOVERNMENT.     51 

cza,  or  council.  Cruelty,  'disease,  and  hard  work  slew 
them  so  rapidly,  that  the  greater  part  had  perished  be- 
fore they  were  set  free,  and  given  land  to  cultivate  in 
common,  as  in  some  of  the  modern  pueblos. 

The  system  of  Spanish  civil  government  extended 
upward  from  the  alcalde  of  the  village  to  the  viceroy 
of  the  whole  territory,  all  appointed  or  elected  with 
such  severe  restrictions  that  matters  were  in  practice 
kept  under  royal  control.  The  detailed  minuteness  of 
the  administrative  affairs  in  even  the  most  obscure  prov- 
inces of  Peru  or  the  Indies,  that  passed  under  the  eyes 
of  the  king  himself,  and  were  decided  according  to 
his  wishes,  is  something  that  almost  surpasses  belief. 
Some  choice  in  village  and  district  affairs  was  all  that 
was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  until  the  mining- 
laws  differentiated  the  powers  of  the  system,  and  the 
local  alcaldeship  was  thus  enabled  to  gain  a  greater 
dignity  and  influence.  Spiritually,  Mexico  was  divided 
into  provinces,  sees,  and  parishes.  The  visidados^  or 
special  emissaries  of  the  king,  and  the  "  legates  of  the 
pope,"  formed  ambassadorial  links  between  the  Old 
World  and  the  New. 

Government  of  the  towns  (pueblos')  was,  in  Spanish 
days,  intrusted  to  a  town-council,  or  ayuntamiento^ 
whose  head  was  either  a  mayores  or  an  alcalde,  assisted 
by  several  regidors  (directors)  and  syndieos  (clerks). 
The  villages  had  only  an  alcalde.  In  the  large  towns 
of  each  district,  the  municipality  chose  two  alcaldes  de 
mesta^  to  preside  over  semi-annual  councils  of  the  live- 
stock owners.  This  pastoral  custom  was  carried  wher- 
ever Mexican  colonists  journeyed ;  in  a  modified  form  it 
survived  in  California  until  a  few  years  ago,  and  still 
exists  in  New  Mexico  and  the  South- West. 

Studying  as  a  whole  the  civil  government  instituted 


52  MINING-CAMPS. 

hy  Spain,  we  can  safely  affirm  that  no  nation  has  ever 
possessed  a  nicer  sense  of  the  theoretical  proportions 
of  aristocratic  rule,  or  brought  to  the  difficult  labors 
of  colonial  government  a  more  dignified  and  stately  ad- 
ministrative genius;  but  the  fatal  facility  with  which 
department  was  added  to  department,  and  wheel  to 
wheel,  made  the  whole  cumbrous  machinery  break  down 
at  last  beneath  its  own  weight.  It  was  an  ingenious 
mechanical  contrivance,  not  a  vital  organism.  Pulleys, 
levers,  and  speaking-tubes,  not  arteries,  nerves,  and  mus- 
cles, set  the  mandates  of  the  central  government  in 
operation  throughout  the  system.  Hence  its  weight 
and  increasing  weakness,  its  decay  and  final  failure,  its 
giant  wrecks  rusting  in  solitude  on  the  hills  of  every 
Spanish-American  province,  its  mournful  problems,  as 
of  misgoverned  Cuba.  This  overloaded  mechanism  of 
government  reaches  its  climax  in  the  mining-laws  of 
New  Spain,  more  particularly  of  Mexico,  which  con- 
stitute the  most  unique,  laborious,  and  complicated  sys- 
tem of  special  jurisprudence  ever  developed  on  this 
continent. 

In  February,  1774,  the  miners  of  Mexico  petitioned 
the  King  of  Spain,  by  whose  orders  a  perpetual  corpora- 
tion was  established,  embracing  all  the  mine-owners,  and 
ruled  by  a  great  tribunal  consisting  of  an  appointed 
president,  an  appointed  director,  and  three  elected  depu- 
ties. Acting  under  this  central  organization  were  local 
tribunals,  one  in  each  province.  The  system  proposed 
was  to  have  jurisdiction  in  all  cases  which  concerned 
the  mines  or  the  miners,  and  it  was  at  first  received 
with  universal  enthusiasm.  One  of  the  first  things 
done  was  to  found  a  college  of  mines  on  an  immense 
scale  in  the  city  of  Mexico.  Alexander  von  Humboldt, 
in  his  "  Political  Essay  on  New  Spain,"  describes  this 


MINING-LAWS   OF  MEXICO.  63 

Real  Seminario  de  Mineria  as  it  existed  in  the  city  of 
Mexico  in  1803.  The  director  of  the  college  had  then 
been  collecting  statistics  from  the  thirty-seven  Depu- 
taciones  de  Minas^  and  from  these  reports  he  had  per- 
fected a  mineral-map  for  the  use  of  the  supreme  college 
or  head  tribunal.  A  great  banking-system,  whose  rami- 
fications were  to  extend  to  the  remotest  mining-town, 
was  early  organized.  The  tribunal,  soon  after  its  crea- 
tion, had  formulated  a  code  of  laws  for  the  government 
and  regulation  of  mine-towns,  mine-owners,  and  mine- 
laborers.  In  1783  this  code  received  the  full  approval 
of  the  king  and  the  grand  council  of  the  Indies.^  Thus 
the  mining-interests  of  Mexico  were  separated  from 
direct  control  of  the  civil  authorities ;  and  the  powerful 
corporation  created  in  accordance  with  the  petition  of 
the  miners  received  rights  of  separate  courts,  and  privi- 
leges and  immunities  almost  royal  in  scope  and  nature. 

No  "  mine-town  "  had  a  right  to  vote  at  any  election 
for  a  tribunal  deputy,  unless  it  contained  "an  inhabiting 
population,  a  church,  and  a  curate  or  deputy,  a  judge 
and  deputy  of  mines,  six  mines  in  actual  working,  and 
four  reducing-establishments." 

Paternal  government  over  the  mines  and  the  miners 
was  developed  to  such  an  amusing  and  exasperating 
degree,  that  some  of  its  manifestations  seem  almost 
beyond  belief.      Supervision  was  never  reduced  to  a 

1  This  great  Council  of  the  Indies  was  created  by  Ferdinand  in 
1511,  but  was  not  fully  organized  till  thirteen  years  later  under  Charles 
the  Fifth.  It  was  a  plan  much  favored  by  that  wise  statesman,  Cardi- 
nal Ximenes,  whom  Sir  Arthur  Helps  has  compared  to  the  English  Earl 
of  Chatham.  The  Recopilacion  de  las  Leyes  de  las  Indias  declared  that 
this  council  should  consist  of  twenty-two  coimcillors,  presided  over  by 
the  king  himself  as  perpetual  president,  and  of  four  secretaries.  It  was 
given  supreme  jurisdiction  throughout  Spanish  America  and  the  Philij)- 
pines.  As  a  rule,  the  councillors  were  men  who  had  seen  service  as 
viceroys  or  captains-general  in  the  New  World. 


54  MINING-CAMPS. 

more  exact  science.  This  royal  ordinance  of  1783 
declares  that  all  cases  must  be  decided  "  without  any 
of  the  usual  delays,  written  declarations,  or  petitions  of 
lawyers."  It  sets  apart  the  refuse  ore-heaps  and  "  tail- 
ings "  as  "  support  for  the  widows  and  orphans,  old  and 
helpless."  It  forbids  reduction  of  wages,  fixes  rations, 
commands  registration  of  laborers  with  a  view  to  pre- 
vent their  leaving  a  mine,  and  orders  that  the  price  of 
articles  used  in  the  mines  shall  be  fixed  by  law  so  that 
"  no  undue  profit "  shall  be  taken  by  any  one.  It  also 
prohibits  all  persons  from  making  demands  of  the  work- 
men for  alms,  this  being  aimed  at  the  beggars  and  the 
mendicant  friars  of  the  time.  One  of  the  most  interest- 
ing provisions  is  to  the  effect  that  "  persons  going  about 
to  search  for  mines  shall  be  allowed  to  have  one  beast 
to  ride  on,  and  one  to  carry  their  bedding  and  provis- 
ions, and  shall  not  have  to  pay  for  their  pasture,  either 
on  public  or  private  property,  whether  it  be  customary 
or  not  to  pay  for  the  same."  The  reason  for  this  pro- 
vision is  evidently  to  be  found  in  the  royal  rights  over 
mineral  ground.  Whoever  discovered  a  new  mine  was 
an  unofficial  "king's  messenger;"  he  was  increasing  the 
revenues  of  the  crown.  The  prospector  was,  therefore, 
a  more  privileged  charactei  in  Mexico  during  the  days 
of  Washington,  and  under  the  rule  of  pleasure-loving 
Charles  the  Third  of  Spain,  than  he  is  at  the  present 
time  in  any  spot  on  the  American  Continent. 

The  code  ordained  by  the  miners'  tribunal  further 
provided  for  certain  local  ofiBcers,  called  disputaciones, 
to  reside  in  mining-towns  as  arbitrators  in  difficulties 
respecting  mining-property,  and  also  to  discharge  the 
very  peculiar  duty  of  "admonishing  extravagant,  waste- 
ful, or  gambling  miners."  If  this  warning  was  not 
heeded,  the  tribunal  had  power,  which  it  often  exer- 


MINING-LAWS    OF   MEXICO.  65 

cised,  of  "appointing  a  guardian  for  said  miner,  and  of 
limiting  his  expenditures."  In  ways  like  this  the 
mining-code  of  Mexico  descended  to  the  most  minute 
particulars  and  trivial  details  of  daily  life,  regulating 
the  laborer's  food,  attire,  and  hours  of  labor ;  forbidding 
"  dice,  cards,  and  cock-fighting,"  still  besetting  sins  of 
the  Mexican  miners ;  punishing  idlers  and  vagabonds ; 
and  seemingly  making  some  provision  for  every  possible 
emergency. 

The  use  of  a  disputaoiones,  or  arbitrator,  was  a  favor- 
ite idea  of  Mexican  jurisprudence.  The  powers  of  this 
office  were,  at  its  abolishment,  transferred  to  the  alcalde- 
ships.  The  disputaoiones,  under  this  later  form,  was 
long  in  use  in  California.  The  same  idea  sprang  up 
in  the  early  "  mining-courts "  of  the  American  mines, 
as  we  shall  hereafter  see ;  but  the  "  arbitrators  "  of  the 
miners  had  little  historical  connection  with  the  Spanish 
disputaoiones ,  except  that  this  particular  function  of 
the  early  alcalde-courts  might  have  aided  to  suggest  the 
plan  in  some  few  of  the  mining-camps. 

That  section  of  the  Spanish  mining-laws  which  orders 
cases  to  be  decided  "  without  delay  "  is  peculiarly  char- 
acteristic of  all  mining-communities.  Time  is  precious ; 
every  one  is  in  haste ;  the  poor  are  about  to  be  made 
rich,  the  rich  about  to  become  extremely  wealthy.  The 
world  over,  all  mining-codes  in  whose  making  the  miners 
themselves  have  had  a  hand  are  certain  to  ignore  tech- 
nicalities, urge  swift  decisions,  and  laugh  to  scorn  each 
fine-spun  argument. 

The  laws  of  Mexico,  as  of  Spain,  recognized  two  dis- 
tinct interests  in  land,  —  surface  and  mineral ;  interests 
not  only  legally  distinct,  but  even  transferred  by  sepa- 
rate and  differently  worded  titles.  One  was  la  propie- 
dad  del  suelo,  the  other  was  la  propiedad  de  la  mina. 


56'  MmiNG-CAMPS. 

The  first,  the  right  of  pasturage  and  of  agricultural  use, 
was  transferred  or  conveyed  from  the  authorities  of  the 
province,  by  sale,  by  absolute  gift,  or  by  gift  conditioned 
on  settlement ;  the  second,  the  right  to  dig  for  minerals, 
was  obtained  by  special  gift  of  the  king  himself,  by 
registration  of  discovery,  by  denouncement  of  another 
mine  for  "non-working"  and  its  consequent  forfeiture, 
or  by  purchase  subject  to  special  royal  taxes  and  restric- 
tions. An  agricultural  grant  left  the  entire  right  to 
minerals  in  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  Government,  which 
right  passed  thence  to  Mexico  at  the  Revolution.  The 
right  of  miners  to  enter  on  private  domains  was  abso- 
lute, nor  was  it  conditioned  upon  payment  of  damages. 
The  ideas  involved  in  the  system  were,  so  far  as  re- 
garded mineral  lands,  somewhat  as  follows :  legal  title 
complete  in  the  crown ;  absolute  right  of  the  public  to 
search  for  mineral,  and  work  ungranted  mines ;  right  of 
eminent  domain  over  mining-lands  and  mining-interests 
of  every  sort,  such  as  in  wood  and  water,  vested  in  the 
government;  rights  of  the  crown  to  confer  private 
ownership;  ordinary  mining-rights,  valid  only  during 
the  life  of  the  reigning  king,  and  a  renewal  necessary 
at  his  death. 

Many  of  the  agricultural  grants  made  by  Mexico  to 
citizens  of  Alta  California  were  found,  after  the  con- 
quest, to  contain  mineral  wealth ;  and  in  some  cases  such 
lands  were  entered  upon  by  prospectors,  and  claimed  as 
being  public  lands,  in  the  sense  of  the  Mexican  mining- 
law,  and  so  having  passed  by  conquest  to  the  United 
States.  A  knowledge  of  the  Spanish  laws  thus  became 
necessary  to  every  American  lawyer  in  California,  as 
once  before  to  the  lawyers  of  Louisiana  and  Missouri, 
and  as  now  in  Arizona  and  New  Mexico.  They  were 
obliged  to  have  some  acquaintance  with  the  codes  and 


MINING-LAWS   OF   MEXICO.  57 

commentaries  of  the  famous  Spanish  jurist  Gamboa, 
with  the  ordinance  of  1783,  with  subsequent  acts  of  the 
Tribunal  de  Mineria^  and  with  various  decrees  of  Co- 
monfort,  Juarez,  and  other  Mexican  presidents,  and  acts 
of  different  Congresses. 

The  greatest  alterations  which  have  been  made  in  the 
mining-laws  were  shortly  after  Mexican  independence 
was  established.  The  mining-deputations  were  brought 
more  under  the  control  of  the  government;  mining- 
courts,  consisting  of  a  lawyer  and  two  mine-owners,  were 
established  in  each  one  of  the  States,  to  serve  as  a  court 
of  appellate  jurisdiction ;  lastly,  the  rights  of  foreign- 
ers to  purchase  mines  was  recognized,  though  with  re- 
strictions. This  was  in  1823.  At  a  later  period,  all 
"  contentious  jurisdiction"  was  transferred  to  the  civil 
courts,  and  the  separate  mining-courts  lost  the  greater 
part  of  their  authority.  Successive  modifications  of  the 
laws  respecting  foreign  miners,  and  the  -influence  of 
English,  German,  and  American  capital  and  energy,  have 
produced  many  changes,  of  late  years,  in  the  northern 
Mexican  States.  The  local  customs  and  district  laws  of 
that  region  are  being  superseded  slowly  but  surely  by 
American  mining-usages.^ 

The  condition  of  Mexican  mining  and  civil  law  at  the 
present  time  is,  however,  foreign  to  our  investigation. 
Our  inquiries  have  been  only  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining to  some  extent  the  spirit  of  Mexican  institu- 
tions, so  as  to  understand  more  clearly  the  nature  of 
their  influence  upon  California,  and  the  modifications 
they  necessarily  underwent.    Before  American  pioneers 


1  "  This  Province  [Sonora]  is  beginning  to  adopt  American  mining- 
customs"  (private  letter  from  the  late  Manuel  M.  Corella,  professor  at 
the  University  of  California,  and  afterwards  an  eminent  Arizona  law- 
yer; written  in  1880). 


58  MINING-CAMPS. 

captured  California,  before  American  miners  had  organ- 
ized a  single  camp,  three  institutions  of  Spanish  origin, 
the  mission,  the  pueblo,  and  the  alcaldeship,  existed  in 
the  coast-region,  and  deserve  our  careful  study.  They 
serve  as  a  background  for  the  fuller  activities  of  the 
American  period,  and  they  help  to  explain  the  local 
political  difficulties  that  preceded  the  organization  of 
State  government.  The  pueblo  and  the  alcaldeship 
were  transferred,  with  slight  modifications,  from  the 
limits  of  Mexico ;  the  "  mission  "  was  an  institution  that 
gained  for  a  time,  in  the  provinces  of  California,  an  in- 
fluence almost  as  overwhelming  as  that  it  so  long  held 
in  parts  of  South  America  under  the  Jesuits. 


CHAPTER    yi. 

THE  MISSIONS  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST. 

The  institution  known  in  California  as  the  "  mission  " 
was,  from  one  stand-point,  missionary  and  ecclesiastical ; 
from  another  it  was  industrial  and  political.  There  was 
a  decided  flavor  of  worldliness,  not  to  say  greed  of  gain, 
mingled  with  the  undoubted  zeal  and  holiness  of  the 
early  priests.  In  all  the  mountainous  wilderness  from 
Cape  St.  Lucas  to  Cape  Mendocino,  their  missions  occu- 
pied the  choicest  spots  in  the  fairest  valleys.  They 
chose  for  soil,  water,  climate,  sightliness,  commanding 
position;  and  subsequent  years  have  only  confirmed 
their  almost  unerring  judgment.  The  cash  value  of  each 
convert  to  the  gardens  and  ptistures  of  the  mission's 
broad  domains  was  never  overlooked:  Christianized 
Indians  meant  laborers  and  vassals.  The  California 
natives  of  whom,  in  1721,  Collier  wrote,  "  Every  family 
hath  an  entire  legislature,  and  governs  at  discretion," 
were  brought  into  a  subjection  only  paralleled  in  Para- 
guay. Students  of  economic  subjects  could  not  fail  to 
find  much  of  interest  in  the  internal  management  of 
these  famous  missions  of  Alta  (or  Upper)  California,  the 
outgrowth  of  those  established  by  the  Jesuits  in  the 
peninsula  of  Baja  (or  Lower)  California,  where  Fathers 
Ugarte  and  Salvatierra  planted  Loreto,  Oct.  19,  1697. 
Within  seventy  years  the  priests  had  four  flourishing 
missions  and  many  minor  settlements  along  the  shores 


60  MINING-CAMPS. 

of  the  Gulf,  then  known  as  the  Red  Sea,  or  the  Sea  of 
Cortez  (eZ  mar  Cortex).  Soldiers  under  their  command 
mapped  out  the  surrounding  region.  Humboldt  in  his 
"  New  Spain  "  describes  early  conflicts  of  secular  and 
ecclesiastical  authority,  terminated  by  the  Spanish 
courts,  which  issued  a  cedula  real,  or  writ,  and  put 
the  entire  detachment  at  Loreto  under  the  orders  of  the 
priests.  This  famous  shrine  was  soon  enriched  by  pearls 
from  the  Gulf  and  silver  from  the  mines :  it  possessed 
embroideries  made  by  the  hands  of  the  Queen  of  Spain, 
and  paintings  by  Murillo  and  Velasquez.  In  1719  Father 
Ugarte  built  a  missionary  ship  from  timber  dragged  two 
hundred  miles  through  the  gray  mountains  and  barren 
sand-dunes,  there  being  no  forests  nearer  to  Loreto. 
At  last,  in  1767  the  Jesuits  were  expelled,  giving  place 
to  their  successful  rivals  the  Franciscans ;  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  they  left  the  adobe-built  missions  of  Lower 
California,  the  gardens,  young  Orchards,  and  semi-civili- 
zed converts  of  their  faith.  The  first  settlement,  the 
first  chfirch,  and  the  first  ship  built  in  the  California 
provinces  were  the  restflt  of  Jesuit  enterprise.  The 
work  they  did  was  the  direct  means  of  attracting  the 
attention  of  Spain  to  Upper  California,  and  led  to  imme- 
diate efforts  for  its  colonization.  The  leaders  changed; 
but  the  movement  which  culminated  at  Mission  Dolores 
on  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  received  its  primary  im- 
pulse when  Fathers  Ugarte  and  Salvatierra,  with  nine 
soldiers,  set  up  their  rude  cross  by  the  sheltered  cove  of 
sultry  Loreto. 

In  July  of  1769,  —  that  fateful  year  which  witnessed 
the  birth  of  those  mighty  leaders  of  opposing  armies, 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  — 
Father  Junipero  Serra,  the  Franciscan  apostle,  a  man 
of  singular  zeal,  piety,  asceticism,  and  administrative 


THE   MISSIONS   OF   THE   TACIFIC   COAST.  01 

ability,  founded  San  Diego,  and  began  the  mission 
system  in  Alta  California.^  His  successors  completed 
its  ecclesiastical  conquest,  and  brought  the  coast-tribes 
into  full  subjection. 

The  missions  in  their  prime  were  little  more  than 
Indian  reservations,  managed,,  it  is  true,  with  great 
skill  and  marked  industrial  success,  but  entirely  incapa- 
ble of  making  citizens  out  of  their  Indian  occupants. 
From  the  days  of  the  good  Las  Casas,  Spain  and  Mex- 
ico had  honestly  tried  to  do  their  best  by  the  Indians. 
The  laws  of  Mexico  gave  them  many  rights  which  in 
practice  they  were  utterly  unable  to  obtain.  A  decree 
of  Philip  II.,  in  1571,  ordered  that  the  property  of 
Indians  should  never  be  sold  except  at  public  auction, 
before  the  alcalde,  after  thirty  days  notice.  Later 
Spanish  laws  created  additional  safeguards  against  the 
loss  of  their  common  or  other  lands.  The  Recopila- 
cion  de  Indias  says  explicitly  that  they  cannot  be  sold 
nor  alienated  ("  Por  ningun  caso  se  les  pueden  vender  ni 
enagenar  ").  The  royal  Audencia  of  Mexico,  adopted 
in  1781,  enforced  with  additional  legislation  the  same 
idea.  The  object  of  all  these  regulations  was  purely 
beneficent,  —  to  interpose  an  insuperable  barrier  against 
all  attempts  of  the  whites  to  strip  the  newly  emanci- 
pated Indians  of  whatever  property  they  might  receive 
from  the  government,  or  accumulate  by  their  own  in- 
dustry. Their  rights  in  the  common  lands  of  a  pueblo 
could  not  be  sold  or  rented ;  and  this  was  good  law  in 
California,  for  some  time  after  the  American  occupation.^ 

1  Father  Serra  founded  six  mission  colonies,  gathered  into  strict  dis- 
cipline over  seven  thousand  Indians,  died  Aug.  28,  1784,  and  was  buried 
at  San  Carlos,  Monterey,  beneath  the  church-altar.  Father  Francisco 
Palou,  his  friend,  associate,  and  biographer,  wrote  Serra's  life  at  Mis- 
sion Dolores,  —  the  first  book  written  in  California. 

2  Sunol.  vs.  Hepburn,  1  Cal.  Kep.,  p.  224. 


62  MINING-CAMPS. 

But  in  California,  as  in  Mexico,  the  actual  rights  pos- 
sessed by  the  Indians  were  less  than  their  legal  rights, 
even  during  the  sixty  years  of  the  missions*  undisputed 
control.  For  these  slaves  of  the  soil,  that  civil  author- 
ity represented  by  commandantes,  ayuntamientos,  and 
other  officials  of  pueblo,  presidio,  or  province,  only 
existed  as  casual  apparitions,  gorgeous  and  stately  as 
the  bandits  of  an  Italian  opera.  Very  justly  says 
quaint  old  Nicholas  Mill,  in  his  "  History  of  Mexico," 
"In  California  the  monks  do  rule  the  country."  In 
the  early  mission  days,  they  discouraged  settlements 
and  colonies  of  whites ;  and  at  a  later  period  they  still 
found  means  of  controlling  the  Indian  population  far 
more  absolutely  than  had  been  the  intention  of  the 
civil  authorities.  Mexican  laws  enacted  early  in  this 
century,  and  still  in  force  in  California  after  the  Ameri- 
can conquest,  provided  for  Indian  alcaldes,  in  these 
terms :  — 

"Mission  Indians  have  the  right  to  elect  their  own  alcaldes, 
who,  with  the  advice  and  assistance  of  the  mission  priests,  shall 
make  all  the  necessary  regulations  for  their  own  internal  govern- 
ment." 

The  Acts  of  1833-34,  secularizing  the  missions,  pay 
much  attention  to  the  welfare  of  the  Indians.  From 
the  point  of  view  taken  by  the  Mexican  Government, 
the  only  good  reason  for  the  long-continued  existence 
of  the  missions  had  been  to  train  citizens.  They  were 
not  intended  to  be  permanent  establishments;  but 
would,  it  was  hoped,  change  peacefully  into  prosperous 
parishes,  and  gradually  lose  their  peculiar  industrial, 
political,  and  communal  features.  But  the  laws  relat- 
ing to  Indian  alcaldes  were  practically  a  dead  letter. 
Cooke,  in  his  "Conquest  of  New  Mexico  and  Cali- 
fornia," mentions   such  an  alcalde  at  "San   Phillipi" 


THE  MISSIONS   OF  THE  PACIFIC   COAST.  63 

(Felipe)  ;  but  otherwise,  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  learn, 
the  right  was  unused  and  forgotten. 

If  the  condition  of  vassalage  in  which  the  mission 
Indians  were  kept  be  considered  entirely  justifiable, 
their  treatment  was,  on  the  whole,  satisfactory.  Few 
whites  except  priests  and  soldiers  were  allowed  to  live 
at  the  missions,  whose  tile-roofed  buildings  of  black 
sun-dried  bricks  (adobes)  surrounded  a  large  court,  cool 
with  flowing  streams  of  water  and  shade-trees.  One 
side  of  the  square  was  occupied  by  the  great  mission- 
church  ;  while  the  remaining  three  sides  were  devoted 
to  galleries,  porches,  workshops,  barns,  stables,  grana- 
ries, kitchens,  store-houses,  cells  of  neophytes,  and  rooms 
of  priests.  The  Indians  were  fed  and  clothed,  taught 
trades,  simple  mechanical  arts,  and  the  system  of  agri- 
culture practised  in  Spain;  passing  their  uneventful 
lives  as  humble  servants  of  the  Church,  which  was 
virtually  independent  of  Mexico,  owner  of  the  soil, 
and  master  of  the  country .^ 

One  might  fill  a  volume  with  incidents  of  life  in 
these  quaint  and  curious  missions  before  their  hour 
of  doom  came.  The  people  rose  at  sunrise,  spent  an 
hour  at  the  chapel,  marched  singing  to  the  fields,  re- 
turned when  the  evening  angelus  rang,  spent  the  even- 
ing in  games  and  amusements,  and  retired  to  their  huts 
of  tules  grouped  under  the  mission's  protecting  shadow. 
They  planted  gardens,  orangeries,  vineries,  and  olivari- 
ums,  —  gardens  in  which  the  choicest  fruits  of  Granada 
and  Andalusia  were  grown ;  and  they  tended  the  fast- 
multiplying  herds  of  the  mission  in  the  broad  valleys 
and  on  the  fertile  foot-hills.  California  became  almost 
a  sanitarium  and  refuge  for  army  veterans  and  worn- 

1  Paper  on  California.  Harris:  Maryland  Hist.  Soc.  Pub.,  1849;  now 
a  very  rare  pamphlet. 


64  MINING-CAMPS. 

out  priests;  the  missions  where  they  dwelt  were  like 
highly  cultivated  oases  in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness. 
Catholic  writers  have  strongly  denounced  the  subse- 
quent Mexican  policy  of  secularization,  marked  as  it 
was  by  the  confiscation  of  the  "Pious  Fund,"  estab- 
lished for  missionary  purposes  by  wealthy  Catholics  in 
Mexico  and  Spain.  De  Courcy  says  that  the  Franciscan 
Fathers  had  seventy-five  thousand  California  Indians 
civilized  and  converted  before  1813.  Another  writer, 
Marshall,  adds  that  in  eight  years  the  secular  adminis- 
tration of  the  missions  "  re-plunged  the  whole  province 
into  barbarism,"  and  utterly  failed  in  every  particular ; 
reducing  at  the  chief  missions  the  30,650  Indians  to 
4,450,  the  424,000  head  of  cattle  to  28,220,  the  62,000 
horses  to  3,800,  the  331,000  sheep  to  31,600,  and  the 
annual  yield  of  70,000  fanegas  of  wheat  to  4,000.  (A 
fanega  weighed  150  pounds.)  This  scattering  of  help- 
less, ignorant  Indians  over  California  has  ever,  and  most 
justly,  appealed  to  human  sympathies.  Even  at  this  day 
the  great  adobe  walls  of  the  few  mission-churches  that 
yet  stand,  the  rude  sculptures,  gaudy  frescos,  and  square 
belfries,  the  neglected  burial-grounds,  the  huge  and 
rucle  crosses  set  sloping  on  the  hillsides  or  crowning 
some  seaward-overlooking  peak,  the  mournful  silver- 
gray  olive-trees,  large  as  those  that  look  down  the  dark 
chasm  of  Sorrento,  all  appear  sacred  and  deeply  impres- 
sive features  in  the  California  landscape.  Protestants 
and  Catholics  alike  treasure  these  memorials  of  the 
dreamy,  romantic  childhood  of  California,  of  conditions 
of  society  that  have  forever  departed  from  the  Ameri- 
can continent,  and  of  an  ecclesiastical  rule  more  power- 
ful and  more  exclusive  than  existed  elsewhere  in  North 
America. 

When  the  missions  were  first  established,  a  tract  of 


THE   MISSIONS    OF   THE   PACIFIC    COAST.  65 

about  fifteen  acres  was  allotted  to  each  one ;  but  their 
lands  were  never  surveyed,  andsthey  gradually  extended 
their  bounds  until  they  virtually  laid  claim  to  nearly 
the  entire  region.  The  term  "mission,"  that  once  had 
meant  only  the  church-town,  with  the  gardens  and 
orchards  near  it,  soon  came  to  include  the  extensive 
tracts  over  which  the  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep  owned  by 
the  establishment  were  allowed  to  roam  at  will.  There 
were,  a  few  years  later,  some  separate  private  grants  and 
presidio  reservations.  The  priests  never  received  any 
formal  acknowledgment,  from  the  Spanish  Government, 
of  their  land-claims.  The  revolution  of  1822  put  the 
subject  into  the  hands  of  Mexican  Liberals,  who  four 
years  later  freed  the  Indian  serfs  from  compulsory  alle- 
giance to  the  priesthood.  The  mission-lands  were  gradu- 
ally alienated,  and  the  decay  and  ruin  spoken  of  in  the 
previous  paragraph  followed  as  a  natural  consequence. 

It  appears  evident  that  the  missions  in  their  best 
estate  were  triumphs  of  organization,  and  marvels  of 
pastoral  wealth.  San  Gabriel,  for  instance,  once  con- 
tained three  thousand  Indians,  owned  one  hundred  and 
five  thousand  cattle,  twenty  thousand  horses,  forty  thou- 
sand sheep,  and  seventeen  extensive  ranches  all  well 
cultivated ;  it  had  fig,  olive,  grape,  and  orange  planta- 
tions; and  thousands  of  dollars  were  in  its  treasury. 
The  twenty-one  missions  of  Alta  California  in  1820 
contained  thirty  thousand  Indians,  and  owned  a  million 
head  of  live-stock.  By  1833,  when  secularization  be- 
gan, the  number  of  Indians  had  fallen  to  twenty  thou- 
sand, there  being  great  mortality  among  them,  and  little 
recuperative  energy.  By  1837  the  missions  held  only 
about  four  thousand  Indians,  and  less  than  sixty-three 
thousand  head  of  live-stock.  Seventeen  years  never 
wrouglit  more  complete  ruin  in  a  social  system. 


66  MINING-CAMPS. 

We  have  now  to  consider  the  legal  aspects  and 
methods  of  organization  of  the  mission  colonies.  The 
Franciscan  padre  who  governed  each  mission  was  at 
first  its  civil  as  well  as  religious  ruler,  and  dealt  directly 
with  the  viceroy  of  Mexico.  He  was  called  the  presi- 
dente,  or  governor,  and  administered  the  law  within  his 
jurisdiction.  Nominally  it  was  the  law  of  Mexico; 
practically  it  was  frontier  government,  —  few  and  simple 
rules,  prompt  and  summary  enforcement,  and  no  appeal 
except  to  the  city  of  Mexico.  Thus  they  governed  the 
Indians,  the  soldiers,  the  few  white  settlers  in  the  vil- 
lages that  grew  up  near  the  missions.  The  province 
had  its  commandante,  representing  the  civil  and  military 
power,  but  never  interfering  with  the  management  of 
the  missions,  nor  criticising  the  decisions  of  the  priests. 
In  Father  Junipero  Serra's  time,  there  was  a  conflict  of 
authority,  which  ended  in  a  victory  for  the  ecclesiastics, 
and  the  military  authorities  accepted  the  situation. 

The  first  grant  of  land  the  priests  allowed  to  be  given 
in  California  was  in  1774,  to  a  Spanish  soldier  named 
Butron,  who  had  married  a  baptized  Indian  gu'l  from 
Carmel  Mission,  and  received  a  tract  in  that  valley.^ 
By  this  time  their  claims  embraced  nearly  the  whole 
territory  from  sea-coast  to  sierra,  and  from  Sonoma 
Mountain  to  San  Diego  Bay.  It  was  difficult,  even  at 
a  later  date,  when  secularization  was  evidently  an  inev- 
itable fact,  to  secure  ownership  of  land  "against  the 
encroachments  of  powerful  missions  which  discouraged- 
immigration,  and  under  a  weak  and  irregular  territorial 
government."  2  Despite  these  difficulties,  and  the  al- 
most constant  opposition  of  the  priests,  the  little  pue- 
blos, or  free  towns,  grew,  and  received  alcaldes.    In  1813 

1  Tuthill's  History  of  California,  pp.  60-G3,  passim. 

2  Cooke's  Conquest  of  New  Mexico  and  California. 


THE  MISSIONS   OF   THE   PACIFIC   COAST.  67 

the  Spanish  Cortes  granted  right  to  form  ayuntamientos^ 
or  town-councils.  By  various  enactments  between  1822 
and  1833,  the  Mexican  Government  took  secular  author- 
ity from  the  presidencias,  and  swept  away  the  irrespon- 
sible, undefined,  and  illegal  power  so  long  exercised 
within  those  jurisdictions.  The  presidente,  or  priest- 
president,  became  a  simple  prefect,  and  civil  authority 
prevailed  over  ecclesiastical. 

The  mission-land  claims  were  continued  long  after 
the  American  conquest.  Priests  in  charge  of  missions 
attempted  to  sell  or  rent  lands  in  the  vicinity,  and  were 
prevented  by  Mason,  the  military  governor.  The  noted 
case  of  Nobili  v.  Redman  ^  decided  the  legal  status  of 
the  missions,  and  aided  greatly  in  settling  land-titles  in 
California.  This  decision  was  to  the  effect  that  "the 
missions  established  in  California  prior  to  its  acquisition 
by  the  United  States  were  political  establishments,  and 
m  no  wise  connected  with  the  Church.  The  fact  that 
monks  or  priests  governed  them  does  not  prove  the 
ownership  of  the  Church.  The  lands  the  mission  held 
remained  government  lands ;  and  the  Church  can  only 
claim  mission  property  under  the  Mexican  decree  of 
1824,  and  subject  to  all  its  limitations."  ^  This  evidently 
refers  to  and  includes  the  Acts  subsequent  to  1834, 
carrying  into  effect  the  original  announcement  of  1824. 

The  secularization  of  the  mission-lands  will  be  de- 
scribed more  at  length  in  discussing  the  pueblos,  or  free 
towns,  into  which  some  of  the  missions  were  converted. 
This  secularization  seems  to  have  been  amply  justified 

1  6  Cal.  Rep.,  p.  325.  Anotlier  interesting  case  is  that  of  Santilan 
vs.  Moses,  1  Cal.  Rep.,  p.  92.  The  position  of  the  priest  was  held  analo- 
gous to  that  of  "  sole  corporation  "  in  England. 

2  "  Primafacie,  that  the  Mexican  Government  of  California  had  the 
power  to  grant  mission-lands  as  they  chose."  —  Den.  vs.  Den.,  6  Cal.  Rep., 
p.  81. 


68  MINING-CAMPS. 

as  a  principle  of  public  policy,  though  it  was  not  wisely 
conducted.  It  was,  so  far  as  the  descendants  of  the 
first  Spanish  settlers  were  concerned,  an  act  of  simple 
justice.  As  early  as  1763,  men  had  removed  from 
Mexico  to  California  under  promise  of  becoming  land- 
owners; and  this  had  hitherto  been  denied  them.  It  was 
also  an  act  of  patriotism ;  because  the  priests  of  Mexico 
and  California  had  done  all  they  could  to  prevent  the 
success  of  the  revolution,  and  whatever  reduced  their 
political  and  financial  influence  aided  the  stability  of 
the  new  republic.  The  last  of  the  missions  the  priests 
had  established  was  that  of  Sonoma,  in  August,  1823; 
and  between  1824  and  1834  tlie  various  decrees  already 
alluded  to  stripped  them  all  of  their  possessions.  The 
civil  officers  put  in  charge  were  often  dishonest;  the  mis- 
sion-cattle were  stolen,  or  else  strayed  off  into  the  moun- 
tains; the  Indians  in  many  cases  gladly  returned  to 
their  savage  life,  or  wasted  their  patrimony,  and  sank 
into  beggary.  These  ten  years  represent  a  transition 
period  from  the  era  of  missions  to  the  era  of  pueblos, 
and  in  many  respects  the  change  was  a  trying  one  for 
the  people. 

T]ie  famous  missions,  with  all  their  faults  of  theory 
and  of  practice,  had  been  planted  by  men  possessed  of 
the  true  missionary  spirit :  they  had  done  much  to  civ- 
ilize the  natives,  and  more  to  improve  the  country. 
They  had  often  dispensed  a  genial  and  generous  hospi- 
tality to  strangers,  and  they  ruled  their  servants  with  a 
firm  and  liberal  hand.  When  the  whole  social  fabric 
of  the  mission-system  went  to  ruin,  the  suddenness  of 
its  downfall  shocked  all  thoughtful  observers.  Yet  it 
was  but  an  artificial  system,  and  its  intrinsic  worthless- 
ness  was  plainly  revealed  the  moment  outside  pressure 
and  military  coercion  were  removed.    Moral  suasion  was 


THE  MISSIONS   OF   THE  PACIFIC   COAST.  60 

futile  to  retain  the  thousands  of  Indian  converts,  who 
could  no  longer  be  persuaded  to  make  soap,  mould 
bricks,  weave  wool,  sing  Latin  hymns,  and  repeat 
mediaeval  prayers.  They  returned  to  their  hillsides, 
their  grasshoppers,  their  camass-roots,^  and  their  idle- 
ness ;  while  many  of  the  priests  went  back  to  Mexico. 
The  missions'  lack  of  economic  success  was  by  far  the 
least  part  of  their  failure. 

The  population  of  Alta  California,  exclusive  of  In- 
dians, was  at  this  time  (1834)  about  five  thousand,  of 
whom  not  more  than  forty  were  English  and  Americans. 
Some  of  these,  however,  occupied  very  influential  posi- 
tions ;  several  were  alcaldes,  and  nearly  all  had  married 
wealthy  senoritas.  But,  in  order  to  obtain  any  political 
rights,  they  had  been  compelled  to  become  Catholics, 
and  were  objects  of  suspicion  and  hatred.  Don  Jose 
Castro  was  heard,  in  1837,  to  declare  that  "  a  California 
cavallero  cannot  win  a  sefiorita  if  opposed  in  his  suit 
by  an  American  sailor.  .  .  .  These  heretics  must  be 
cleared  from  the  land."  Their  numbers,  however,  were 
constantly  receiving  accessions.  The  foreign  element 
grew  stronger,  despite  all  efforts  to  dislodge  them. 
They  held  on,  with  the  tenacity  of  men  in  whose  veins 
the  blood  of  many  generations  of  Aryan  pioneers  was 
flowing.  A  few  swaggering  trappers  came  wandering 
through  the  mountain  passes;  a  few  runaway  sailors, 
such  as  Gilroy,  who  married  the  Spanish  heiress  of  vast 
possessions,  became  lords  of  inland  valleys ;  a  few  keen- 
•witted  Yankee  traders  settled  in  the  towns:  and  the 
end  of  Spanish-American  domination  was  close  at  hand. 
Meanwhile  the  light-hearted,  passionate,  generous  na- 


1  "  Camass  escnlenta,"  the  most  important  food-Lallis  of  the  Pacific- 
coast  Indians.  Described  hy  the  late  Hon.  B.  B.  Redding  in  American 
Naturalist,  and  in  report  to  Smithsonian  Institute. 


70  MINING-CAMPS. 

tive  Califomians  established  their  ranchos  in  all  the 
fertile  valleys,  and  built  their  dingy,  thick-walled  adobe 
mansions  on  points  of  vantage  from  San  Diego  to  Sono- 
ma; always  choosing,  with  some  hereditary  instinct  of 
the  race,  the  picturesque  and  beautiful  outlooks,  or 
nestling  in  the  most  sheltered  of  vales,  or  in  the  wild- 
est of  ravines.  The  life  they  lived,  in  its  freedom  from 
care,  and  its  glorious  physical  healthfulness,  was  simply 
perfection.  Dana  somewhere  speaks  of  the  Californians 
as  "  a  people  on  whom  a  curse  had  fallen,  and  stripped 
them  of  every  thing  but  their  pride,  their  manners,  and 
their  voices."  But  he  had  only  seen  them  in  their 
pueblos  near  the  coast :  he  had  not  visited  their  wide- 
roofed  homes,  when  all  the  descendants  of  the  Cas- 
tilian  pioneer  of  1763  gathered  under  one  roof-tree  in 
harmony  and  affection.  Horses  could  be  had  for  the 
asking ;  cattle  were  only  of  value  for  the  hides,  worth 
two  dollars  apiece,  and  called  "  California  bank-notes." 
There  were  no  fences  anywhere,  except  hedges  of 
nopal  (or  prickly-pear),  walls  of  brush,  and  ditches 
formerly  dug  by  the  mission  Indians  about  the  adobe 
ranch-houses.  There  were  no  roads,  except,  near  the 
towns,  the  occasional  track  of  a  slow,  wooden-wheeled 
carreta^  or  ox-cart.  Every  one  rode  on  horseback,  and 
with  an  ease,  grace,  vigor,  and  fearlessness,  which  have 
never  been  surpassed  by  any  race.  This  was  the  peo- 
ple whose  flocks  and  herds  soon  covered  the  plains 
and  hillsides  once  claimed  by  the  missions,  and  into 
whose  untroubled  life  the  American  pioneers  brought 
elements  of  change  and  confusion.  This  was  the  era 
of  California's  eventful  existence,  that  coming  artists 
of  language  will  delight  to  portray.  Its  saints  are  such 
as  that  high-born  maiden,  Concepcion  Arguello,  of 
whose  faithfulness  Bret  Harte's  poem  tells ;  its  shrines 


THE  MISSIONS   OF  THE  PACIFIC   COAST.  71 

are  mostly  ruined  walls  of  sunburned  clay,  the  oldest 
architectural  remains  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United 
States ;  its  heroes  are  dark  and  haughty  vaqueros,  storm- 
ing across  broad  mesa,  wild  canSn,  and  steep  barranca. 
An  old  Spaniard  dying  in  a  rude  hut  near  San  Luis 
Obispo,  in  the  winter  of  1874,  sprang  to  his  feet  in  the 
delirium  of  fever,  and  cried  out,  "I  hear  the  ringing 
of  their  spurs  on  the  mountain,  the  trample  of  their 
horses ! "  and  so,  repeating  the  names  of  his  companions 
of  fifty  years  before,  he  sank  back  in  an  unconsciousness 
from  which  death  soon  released  him. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SPANISH    TOWN-GOVERNMENT.  —  THE    PUEBLO   IN   CALI- 
FORNIA. 

The  pueblos  of  Mexico  are  simply  towns,  as  the  pue- 
hlicitos  are  simply  villages.  In  Alta  California,  the  first 
pueblos  were  so  distinct  from  the  presidios,  or  nomi- 
nally fortified  towns  under  military  rule,  and  from  the 
missions  under  ecclesiastical  rule,  that  they  well  de- 
serve the  title  of  free  towns.  They  alone  had  an 
alcalde  chosen  by  the  people ;  and  they  alone  had 
common  lands,  and  gifts  of  town-lots  to  all  residents. 

But  there  is  an  application  of  the  word  "pueblos" 
to  the  relics  of  an  ancient,  fast-fading,  native  civiliza- 
tion, which  has  perhaps  become  more  familiar  to  most 
readers  than  is  the  Mexican  or  Californian  usage.  The 
pueblo  of  the  south-west  region  of  the  United  States 
is  far  different  from  those  we  have  just  described.  Ad- 
venturous students  such  as  Mr.  Frank  Cushing,  explo- 
rers such  as  Major  Powell,  and  archaeologists  such  as 
Mr.  L.  H.  Morgan,  have  made  us  acquainted  with  the 
rock-fortresses  and  the  immense  communal  buildings  of 
the  race  that  reared  Cicuyd,  Quivira,  Cibola,  and  tlie 
City  of  Mexico .1    Even  to-day  the  Moquis  shape  their 

1  The  first  of  these  was  discovered  by  Coronado;  the  second  was  the 
city  that  Penalosa  saw;  the  third  was  the  mystic  and  seven-citied  realm 
that  the  Franciscan  friar,  Marcos  de  Niza,  reported  in  his  *'  Relations  " 
(Hakluyt  Soc,  vol.  iii.  p.  438).  For  these  pueblos,  see  Morgan's  Homes 
of  the  Aborigines,  Government  Reports  of  Major  Powell,  Short's  North 
72 


SPANISH  TOWN-GOVERNMENT.  73 

black  and  red  pottery  as  they  did  before  Martin  Behaim 
began  to  dream  of  a  new  world;  the  Zuni  priests  still 
guard  their  sacred  fires,  and  pray  in  their  secret  lan- 
guage for  the  fast-fading  "  children  of  Montezuma."  It 
is  curious  enough  that  this  Spanish  word  "  pueblo  "  should 
have  come  to  be  applied  to  the  *'  joint-tenements  "  of  the 
proud  and  brave  people  that  drove  Otermin  out  of  New 
Mexico,  and  for  fifteen  years  governed  themselves.  At 
the  present  time  the  pueblo  Indians  of  the  South-west 
choose  their  own  chief  ruler,  war-captain,  and  fiscal,  as 
they  have  done  for  years.  The  pueblos  of  California 
had  no  essential  relation  to  the  Indians,  and  were  only 
modifications  of  the  Mexican  town-system. 

In  Alta  California,  the  need  of  pueblos  began  to  be 
felt  soon  after  missions  were  first  established.  The 
presidios,  where  the  soldiers  and  commandantes  were, 
required  grain,  vegetables,  and  supplies  of  various  sorts. 
Spanish  vessels  from  the  East  Indies  occasionally  wanted 
provisions.  The  viceroy  of  Mexico  therefore  wrote  to 
the  commandante  of  San  Diego  and  Monterey,  under 
date  of  Aug.  17,  1773,  declaring  that  lie  ''grants  him 
the  power  to  designate  common  lands,  and  also  allows 
him  to  distribute  lands  in  private  to  such  Indians  as 
may  most  dedicate  themselves  to  agriculture  and  the 
breeding  of  cattle ;  but  they  must  continue  to  live  in 
the  town  or  mission,  not  dispersed  on  their  ranchosy 
The  commandante  is  also  empowered  to  grant  lands  to 
any  new  and  desirable  settlers,  and  he  "  must  give  legal 
titles  without  cost."  Then  follows  the  statement,  clearly 
opposed  to  the  claims  of  the  ecclesiastics,  that  he  "  may, 
if  he  deems  it  expedient,  change  a  mission  into  a  pueblo, 
and  subject  it  to  the  same  civil  and  economic  laws  as 

Amerinas  of  Antiquity,  Putnam's  ArchsBology  of  the  Pueblos;  also,  A 
PUeblo  Fete  Day,  in  Overland  Monthly  for  April,  18S4. 


74  MINING-CAMPS. 

govern  the  other  pueblos  of  the  kingdom."  Nothing, 
however,  seems  to  have  come  of  this  permission,  except 
a  few  isolated  grants,  all  under  permission  from,  and 
with  the  full  approval  of,  the  priests. 

Four  years  later,  in  June,  1777,  explicit  directions 
from  the  viceroy  ordered  the  establishment  of  two 
pueblos,  one  at  San  Josd,  the  other  at  Los  Angeles,  on 
the  Rio  Guadalupe  and  the  Rio  Porcincula  respectively. 
In  1795  the  Marquis  of  Branciforte  founded  a  colony, 
and  the  pueblo  of  Branciforte,  near  Santa  Cruz.  All 
the  other  pueblos  of  California  were  outgrowths  of  mis- 
sions or  of  presidios.  The  regulations  outlined  in  the 
letter  of  the  viceroy,  written  in  1773,  were  adopted  for 
the  first  two  pueblos. 

In  June,  1779,  additional  regulations  respecting  the 
pueblos  were  issued,  and  were  approved  and  emphasized 
by  royal  orders  of  Oct.  24, 1781.  By  these  orders,  each 
puhlador^  or  village  colonist,  was  to  be  paid  $116.44 
yearly  for  the  first  two  years,  and  $60  yearly  during  the 
next  three :  he  was  also  to  have  the  free  use  of  horses, 
mules,  cattle,  sheep,  utensils,  and  to  be  furnished  with 
seed-wheat  and  other  necessaries,  of  which  a  long  list  is 
given. 

The  officials  are  to  lay  out  the  streets  and  public 
squares,  with  which  all  Spanish  towns  are  well  pro- 
vided; and  are  to  choose  and  mark  out  the  common 
lands  (^egidos)^  the  lands  for  municipal  purposes  {pro- 
pios)^  the  house-lots  (solares)^  and  the  separate  sowing- 
lands  of  the  colonists  (^suertes).  We  have  here  a  four- 
fold and  extremely  interesting  division  of  lands  among 
villagers,  —  a  division  of  very  ancient  usage  among  the 
Spaniards.  All  the  details  of  the  system  point  to  its 
origin  in  a  community  where  some  of  the  land  had  to 
be  irrigated  on  account  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  sea- 


SPANISH  TOWN-GOVERNMENT.  75 

sons,  and  where  much  of  the  wealth  of  the  people  was 
in  cattle.  The  common  lands  of  the  pueblo  were  to 
furnish  water,  pasturage,  timber,  and  firewood^  and 
these  privileges  were  free  to  all  dwellers  in  the  town. 
Those  who  received  grants  of  building-lots  were  obliged 
to  fence  them,  make  certain  improvements,  and  plant 
trees  thereon,  within  a  stated  time ;  and  this  they  prom- 
ised in  their  petition  to  the  alcalde,  or  to  the  town- 
council.  The  "sowing-lands"  were  granted  in  two 
parcels  to  each  individual ;  one  half  being  "  capable  of 
irrigation,"  the  other  half  "  dry  ground,"  or  upland  (d,e 
tier  r  as). 

The  object  of  establishing  the  California  pueblos  was 
set  forth  in  a  long  preamble  in  the  royal  order  of  1781. 
It  was,  "to  forward  the  reduction  of,  and  as  far  as  possi- 
ble make  this  vast  country  useful  to  the  State ; "  and 
the  union  of  white  men,  or  "  people  of  reason  "  (^r/ente 
de  razon)^  in  close  communities ;  also,  the  "  better  edu- 
cation of  the  Indians." 

Each  pueblo  was  furnished  with  alcaldes  and  other 
municipal  ofi&cers  (members  of  council,  and  syndicos)^ 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants.  For  two 
years  these  officers  were  appointed ;  the  third  year,  and 
thereafter,  they  were  elected.  The  titles  to  houses, 
lots,  and  water-rights  for  irrigation,  were  recorded  in 
the  "Book  of  Colonization,"  and  kept  in  the  pueblo 
archives.  The  council  had  many  duties  similar  to  those 
of  the  ordinary  town-councils  known  to  Americans : 
they  ordered  the  laying-out  of  streets,  the  planting  of 
shade-trees,  the  repair  of  roads. 

In  some  cases  the  pueblo  council  established  schools. 
Feb.  11, 1797,  Felipe  Goycochea,  of  the  presidio  of  Santa 
Barbara,  wrote  to  Governor  Borica,  saying,  "I  trans- 
mit to  you  a  statement  in  relation  to  the  schools,  to- 


76  MINING-CAMPS. 

gether  with  six  copy-books  of  the  children  who  are 
learning  to  write ; "  and  these  Spanish  copy-books  of 
this  pueblo  school  are  still  in  the  archives  of  California, 
and  likely  to  long  remain,  the  only  thing  for  which 
history  takes  note  of  these  last-century  officials.  The 
missions  had  their  schools,  also,  where  some  of  the 
brightest  Indians  were  taught  to  read  and  write,  to 
keep  accounts,  and  superintend  laborers  in  the  field. 
The  hero  of  Mrs.  Helen  Hunt  Jackson's  pathetic  and 
beautiful  novel  "  Ramona  "  is  in  no  wise  an  impossible 
creation :  a  few  such  men  grew  up  under  the  training 
of  mission  and  pueblo.  "Ramona"  gives  information 
about  the  organization  of  the  more  progressive  Indian 
settlements  of  southern  California,  after  the  seculariza- 
tion of  the  missions,  before  their  common  lands  were 
wrested  away  by  fraud  and  force,  and  shameful  neglect 
on  the  part  of  the  United-States  Government. 

In  March,  1791,  the  viceroy  wrote  from  Chihuahua, 
Mexico,  to  Governor  Romeu  of  California,  —  the  order 
reaching  him  in  October,  —  ordaining  that  the  extent 
of  four  common  leagues  measured  from  the  centre  of 
the  square  was  sufficient  for  the  new  pueblos,  into 
which  the  old  presidios  were  transformed.  The  cap- 
fciins  of  the  presidios  were  to  grant  and  distribute 
house-lots  and  lands  to  citizens  and  former  soldiers 
within  these  limits.  The  decree  closed  with  the  cus- 
tomary phrase  used  by  the  courtly  hidalgos  of  Spain, 
"  God  preserve  you  many  years." 

President  Iturbide  in  1823  established  new  laws  for 
the  pueblos,  but  they  were  never  put  into  practical 
operation  in  Alta  California.  The  decrees  of  1824  and 
1828  of  the  Mexican  Congress,  however,  set  forth  minute 
regulations  regarding  the  colonization  of  the  vacant 
lands,  and   the   granting  of  town-sites   to  individuals 


THE  PUEBLO   IN   CALIFOKNIA.  77 

who  bound  themselves  to  establish  colonies.  No  person 
was  allowed  to  receive  more  than  one  square  league 
of  irrigated  land,  four  leagues  of  land  dependent  on 
the  seasons,  and  six  leagues  of  pasture.  The  lands 
granted  must  be  "vacant,''  as  the  exact  status  of 
the  mission-lands  was  declared  "to  be  as  yet  unde- 
termined," and  "must  not  be  within  ten  leagues  of 
the  coast."  This  last  was  evidently  an  attempt,  which 
proved  of  little  avail,  to  populate  the  interior  valleys. 
Less  than  twelve  families  were  not  considered  as  form- 
ing a  colony.  The  government,  policy,  and  town-laws 
of  Mexican  towns  were  copied  as  nearly  as  practi- 
cable. 

The  spirit  of  the  laws  governing  the  granting  of  lands 
to  the  pueblos  was  manifestly  liberal,  as  is  shown  in  an 
Act  of  the  governor  and  territorial  deputation  of  Cali- 
fornia, Aug.  6,  1834.  It  is  there  provided,  that  when  a 
settlement  is  made,  and  the  people  establish  a  council, 
that  body  may  apply  for  assignments  of  land.  This 
evidently  contemplates  the  growth  of  free  towns,  not 
begun  by  formal  colonies,  or  under  large  grants,  but  by 
a  few  settlers  in  the  ordinary  Anglo-Saxon  fashion  of 
planting  communities.  Tlie  municipal  land  so  granted 
was  rented,  or  given  out  by  lot,  subject  to  an  annual 
tax  imposed  by  the  council,  —  "the  opinion  of  three 
intelligent  men  of  honor  being  first  taken."  Each 
house-lot  of  one  hundred  varas  square  ^  cost  the  grantee 
six  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  for  fees  paid  to  the 
alcalde.  Land  required  for  warehouses  and  other  edi- 
fices was  reserved  by  the  authorities. 

Aug.  9,  1834,  the  long  series  of  efforts  to  secularize 
the  missions,  and  convert  them  into  pueblos,  of  which  we 

1  The  vara  is  the  Mexican  yard  of  thirty-two  inches  and  four-tenths. 
It  is  still  in  use  in  real-estate  transactions  in  San  Francisco. 


78  MINING-CAMPS. 

have  previously  spoken,  and  which  had  extended  over 
so  many  years,  culminated  in  the  "provisional  regu- 
lations "  of  Governor  Figueron,  providing  for  the  secu- 
larization of  ten  of  the  missions.^  The  new  pueblos 
were  given  alcaldes  and  councils.  Appointed  commis- 
sioners took  charge  of  the  mission-property,  and  made 
classified  inventories.  They  explained  to  the  Indians, 
"with  suavity  and  patience,"  that  the  missions  had  been 
converted  into  pueblos;  that  they  were  only  subordi- 
nate to  the  priest  in  matters  spiritual ;  and  that  each 
one  must  work,  maintain,  and  govern  himself,  "  without 
dependence  on  any  one."  A  few  large  Indian  rancherias^ 
distant  from  the  missions,  were  allowed  to  form  separate 
pueblos ;  but  these  were  failures. 

Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  the  system  that  prevailed  dur- 
ing the  early  part  of  this  century  underwent  many 
changes.  Once  the  territory  had  been  divided  into 
four  provinces,  —  San  Diego,  Santa  Barbara,  Monterey, 
and  San  Francisco,  —  each  with  a  commandante,^  and 
the  seat  of  government  of  each  being  named  a  presidio. 
About  it  were  tracts  of  land  reserved  for  the  use  of 

1  The  Cortes  of  Spain  first  mentioned  secularization  in  a  decree  of 
Jan.  4,  1813,  in  reference  to  Buenos  Ayres;  saying,  "  Steps  will  soon  bo 
taken  to  reduce  vacant  and  other  lands  to  private  ownership."  Sept. 
13,  they  ordered  the  Buenos  Ayres  Indians  to  choose  representatives  to 
meet  the  governor's  agents,  and  distribute  the  mission-lands.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1831,  the  governor  of  California  issued  a  decree  based  on  these  Acta 
of  1813;  but  clearly  illegal,  and  so  at  once  recalled.  Agitation  continue<l 
till  1833,  when  appeared  the  general  Act  under  which  the  regulations  of 
1834  were  passed. 

2  We  have  before  alluded  to  the  commandante.  He  is  a  classic 
figure  in  early  California  life.  Cases  from  alcalde-courts  and  from  mis- 
sions were  often  referred  to  him.  He  held  his  appellate  court  with 
great  dignity,  —  a  naked  sword  on  one  side  of  his  chair,  and  a  silver- 
headed  cane  on  the  other.  The  sword  awed  the  simple  Indians  and 
Mexicans;  the  cane  was  a  perpetual  writ  of  summons,  sent  to  a  man's 
door  to  call  him  as  witness,  or  carried  through  the  village  to  bring 
young  and  old  to  the  court-room. 


THE   PUEBLO   IN   CALIFORNIA.  79 

the  king's  soldiers,  and  called  rancher ias.'^  The  mis- 
sions held  all  they  chose  of  the  remaining  territory. 
By  1835  there  were  secularized  missions,  ruled  spiritu- 
ally by  priests,  temporally  by  government  administra- 
tors called  major-domos  in  the  Act  of  1840 ;  free  towns 
or  pueblos,  ruled  by  officers  of  their  own  election ;  and 
private  estates,  controlled  with  almost  manorial  powers 
by  lordly  Spanish  dons  owning  ranchos  or  haciendas. 
When  Americans  began  to  acquire  property  in  the 
pueblos,  a  knowledge  of  their  laws  was  essential ;  and 
many  land-titles  long  depended  on  the  pueblo  records 
and  procedure.^ 

Historically,  the  most  important  of  the  pueblos  was 
that  of  Yerba  Buena,  at  first  a  mere  emharcadero,  or 
landing-place,  for  boats  of  fishermen  and  hide-drogers ; 
which  grew  up  near  the  Mission  of  Dolores  and  the 
presidio  of  San  Francisco,  absorbed  both,  took  the 
name  of  the  latter,  and  has  since  grown  into  the  largest 
city  on  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Pacific.  San  Jose  and 
Los  Angeles  have  also  had  great  prosperity,  and  prove, 
in  American  hands,  that  "the  ancient  and  honorable 
pueblos"  from  which  they  sprung  were  admirably 
located. 

The  early  courts  of  the  State  of  California  recog- 
nized and  confirmed  titles  received  from  the  pueblos, 
and  sustained  their  rights  to  common  and  municipal 
lands.3     In  the  case  of  the  pueblo  of  San  Francisco, 


1  The  word  has  fallen  from  its  high  estate.  A  ranchena  is  now  only 
a  collection  of  Indian  huts. 

2  "  Pueblos  could  be  formed  by  discharged  soldiers,  or  by  a  grant  to 
a  chief  colonist,  or  to  twelve  or  more  families,  or  by  a  presidio  being 
established,  or  by  the  secularization  of  a  mission  "  (Welch  vs.  Sullivan, 
8  Cal.  Rep.,  p.  165). 

8  Case  of  Welch  vs.  Sullivan,  8  Cal.  Rep.  Also  Hart  vs.  Burnett, 
15  Cal.  Rep. 


80  MINING-CAMPS. 

the  centre  of  the  old  presidio  square  was  made  the 
initial  point  for  a  survey  of  the  four  square  leagues  to 
which  the  town  was  entitled  as  successor  to  the  rights 
of  the  pueblo  of  Yerba  Buena.^  It  was  decided,  under 
American  law,  that  the  lands  of  a  pueblo  were  not  sub- 
ject to  seizure  or  sale  under  execution.^  The  power 
of  granting  pueblo  lands  was  usually  vested  iu  the 
alcalde,  as  before  stated,  but  sometimes  needed  the 
approval  of  the  ayuntamiento^  or  sometimes  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  pueblo.  If  there  was  no  alcalde,  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  in  American  days,  granted  lots.  In  all  these 
cases,  specific  rules  and  restrictions  were  observed.  The 
authorities,  for  instance,  could  only  grant  or  lease  small 
house-lots,  or  garden-lots  of  two  hundred  varas  square. 
Certain  lands  could  not  be  sold,  mortgaged,  nor  alien- 
ated, even  to  pay  municipal  expenses.^ 

Under  Mexican  rule,  the  petition  required  to  be  sent 
to  the  alcalde  must  set  forth  that  the  petitioner  was 
a  citizen  of  Mexico,  a  resident  of  the  pueblo,  desired 
to  use  and  possess  a  certain  unoccupied  tract,  and- 
would  proceed  to  make  certain  improvements.  Tlie 
land  was  usually  granted  at  once.  The  expenses  of 
the  proceeding  varied  at  different  times  from  five  to 
twenty  dollars.*  The  opportunities  and  perquisites 
of  the  office  of  alcalde  were  fully  appreciated  in  later 
times  by  some  of  the  American  incumbents,  who  granted 
tracts  outside  of  pueblo  bounds,  and  seriously  compli- 
cated land-titles.  The  American  military  governors  of 
California  had  various  difficulties  on  this  score  with  the 

1  Payne  and  Dewey  vs.  Treadwell,  16  Cal.,  220. 

2  Fulton  vs.  Hanlon,  20  Cal.  Rep.,  450. 

8  1  Cal.  Rep.,  306.  Also  cases  of  Redding  vs.  White,  27  Cal.  Rep., 
282;  Branham  vs.  San  Jose',  24  Cal.,  585. 

4  Petition  of  Rosalie  Ilaro,  of  Yerba  Buena  Pueblo,  to  Alcalde 
radilla  (before  American  conquest),  1  Cal.  Rep.,  323. 


THE   PUEBLO   IN   CALIFORNIA.  81 

pueblos  of  San  Francisco,  Sonoma,  San  Jos^,  Monterey, 
and  Santa  Barbara.  So  far  as  was  consonant  with  jus- 
tice, the  grants  made  during  this  period  were  sustained. 
The  rights  of  San  Francisco  were  continuously  recog- 
nized from  1835  to  1850,  except  that  certain  grants 
made  in  1849  by  a  justice  of  the  peace  were  set  aside 
as  invalid.^ 

In  the  Mexican  system  as  known  in  California  after 
1837,  the  alcalde  was  chief  officer  in  all  towns,  and 
always  presided  over  the  town-councils  when  such 
existed.  As  late  as  1850  he  retained  the  right  of 
granting  town -lots. , 

The  preceding  notes  upon  the  pueblos  have  thus  led 
by  natural  steps  to  a  full  consideration  of  this  chief 
office  of  the  pueblo,  —  the  Mexican-Spanish  alcalde- 
ship.  Several  times  in  the  progress  of  this  study,  we 
have  found  it  necessary  to  use  the  term,  and  allude  to 
the  office.  Alcaldes  ruled  the  Darien  colonists  and  the 
Darien  mining-camp;  they  found  a  place  in  Mexican 
mine-towns,  and  Mexican  pastoral  communities.  Trans- 
planted to  Alta  California,  the  office  still  preserved  its 
unique  character,  and  continued  its  development  tow- 
ards higher  forms.  At  last  the  American  miners  for  a 
time  adopted  the  name  and  the  institution,  transferring 
it  from  the  towns  of  the  coast  to  the  camps  of  the 
Sierra.  We  must,  in  a  separate  chapter,  consider  the 
historical  evolution  of  this  office  in  Spain,  in  Mexico, 
and  in  California.  How  was  it  that  a  local  officer  of 
the  Spanish  civil  system  became  the  most  important 
of  institutional  contributions  from  Spanish  America  to 
Germanic  America?  How  was  it  that  the  freedom  of 
the  '  people   to   choose   their   own   alcaldes   was   often 

1  Cobas  vs.  llaisin,  3  Cal.  Rep.,  443. 


82  MINING-CAMPS. 

greater  in  California  than  in  Mexico  ?  To  answer  these 
questions,  we  must  consider  the  nature  and  scope  of 
the  office  in  its  varied  forms,  and  tliroughout  its  event- 
ful career.  We  must  turn  to  the  caliphate  of  Cordova 
and  the  three  Christian  kingdoms  of  northern  Spain. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  STUDY  OF  ALCALDES. 

The  heart  of  the  Spanish  local  system  is  the  alcalde- 
ship.  We  must,  however,  turn  to  the  fruitful  Orienf 
for  the  origin  of  the  office :  it  is,  in  fact,  the  hadi  of 
Persia  and  Arabia,  the  alkaid  of  the  Saracens  and 
Moors ;  it  is  also  the  village  judgeship  of  Spain  in  its 
heroic  age,  when  Aragon  possessed  the  most  liberal 
constitution  in  Europe.^  Art,  romance,  and  literature 
have  loved  to  linger  over  the  picturesque  features  of 
this  office ;  tales  of  the  East,  and  peasant-songs  of  the 
Spanish  peninsula,  alike  describe  the  "judge  of  the 
village,"  whose  power  for  good  or  evil  was  almost 
unlimited. 

The  very  forms  that  the  word  has  taken  in  the 
Spanish  language  are  evidences  of  the  universality  and 
importance  of  the  thing  itself.  An  alcaidia  is  a  town- 
warden,  or  governor  of  a  town,  or  it  is  the  district  of 
his  jurisdiction ;  his  wife  is  the  aleaidesa ;  the  duty 
anciently  levied  on  all  cattle  driven  across  the  district 


1  In  Aragon,  the  citizens  of  the  free  towns,  or  pueblos,  had  provincial 
laws,  organized  guilds,  and  elected  alcaldes.  They  chose  deputies  to 
the  cortes,  or  legislative  council;  and  this  council  elected  the  supreme 
judge,  or  justicia,  levied  taxes,  and  appointed  minor  officers.  Aragon, 
Valencia,  Castile,  and  Catalonia  held  cortes  of  three  estates,  — prelates, 
nobles,  and  deputies.  Leon  in  1188  assembled  the  first  council  of  elected 
deputies.  Barcelona  grew  from  the  Spanish  Mark  established  by  Karl 
the  Great,  and  became  independent  in  the  days  of  Charles  lo  Cliauve. 

83 


84  MINING-CAMPS. 

or  through  the  town  was  the  alcaida  ;  the  alcaiceria  was 
the  market-place.  These  are  earlier  forms,  and  point  to 
wider  sway,  and  even  greater  powers,  than  the  modern 
alcaldes  ever  possessed.  The  true  alcalde  was  judge  of 
the  town,  and  ex-officio  mayor  of  the  council.  To  be 
given  alcaida^  was  to  receive  the  protection  of  some 
powerful  citizen  or  great  nobleman ;  the  office  itself  is 
the  alealdia;  the  judge's  wife  is  the  alcaldesa ;  lastly, 
as  a  term  of  contempt,  anger,  or  sarcasm,  applied  to  any 
absurd  or  hasty  action,  we  have  the  word  alcaldada. 
^  Pleadings  before  the  Spanish  alcaldes  were  oral ;  and 
proceedings  were  summary,  and  in  all  ordinary  cases 
were  final.  Even  in  very  important  trials,  an  appeal 
was  infrequent ;  for  to  carry  it  farther  meant  to  become 
entangled  in  the  Spanish  courts  of  record,  a  worse  fate 
than  to  drift  into  the  delays  of  the  English  chancery 
courts.  In  one  of  the  mediaeval  Spanish  romances,  a 
peasant  says,  "  Yonder  stone  wall  will  rot  ere  thy  law- 
suit ends." 

Under  the  Spanish  laws,  the  alcaldes  were  the  con- 
ciliators of  disputes,  and  the  head  men  of  the  village, 
responsible  to  higher  authority  for  the  behavior  of  those 
under  their  charge. 

Wherever  the  descendants  of  Spain  went,  they  took 
the  main  features  of  the  alcalde-system  to  which  they 
were  accustomed :  the  silver-headed  official  staff  of  the 
alcalde  was  planted  beside  the  cross  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries and  the  Franciscan  friars.  We  have  previously 
spoken  of  alcaldes  in  the  colonies  of  Cuba  and  Darien  : 
alcaldes  also  accompanied  the  soldiers  of  De  Soto  and 
Narvaez.  When  Cabeza  de  Vaca,  afterwards  pioneer 
explorer  of  New  Mexico,  declined  to  accept  command 
of  the  fleet  of  Narvaez,  it  was  an  alcalde  who  took  the 
position.     The  alcaldes  of  that  period  were  soldiers  and 


A  STUDY  OF   ALCALDES.  85 

judges  by  turn,  leaders  of  expeditions,  and  governors  of 
new  colonies.  Don  Diego  Penalosa,  one  of  the  most 
adventurous  Spanish  knights  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, was  in  succession  alcalde  of  La  Paz,  alcalde  of 
Cuzco,  and  provincial  alcalde  of  all  the  La  Paz  prov- 
inces.^ 

So  soon  as  Mexico  was  conquered,  division  into  dis- 
tricts and  the  planting  of  pueblos  began,  to  each  of 
which  an  alcalde  was  appointed,  vacancies  being  after- 
wards filled  by  election.  The  powers  and  duties  of  the 
oflBce  were  probably  much  the  same  as  at  the  present 
time ;  except  that,  so  long  as  the  mining-courts  existed, 
no  alcalde  had  any  jurisdiction  over  mining-cases.  He 
could  not  even  give  a  title  to  mineral-lands ;  this  right, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  being  vested  in  the  "  mining- 
deputation"  of  the  provinces.  In  1812  the  Spanish 
cortes  extended  municipality  privileges  to  all  Mexican 
villages  of  fifty  or  more  inhabitants,  and  provided  that 
several  hamlets  could  be  united  politically  for  town 
government ;  that  is,  under  an  alcalde,  for  no  council 
was  considered  necessary  in  such  cases. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  primary  duties  of  the 
Mexican  village  alcalde  was  that  of  arbitration  in  all 
minor  disputes.  Conciliaeion  was  recognized  as  a  part 
of  the  mining-law:  it  also  belonged  in  the  civil  code. 
No  trial  could  take  place  until  the  alcaldes  (always 
known  in  this  capacity  as  hombres  huenos)  had  tried  to 
settle  it  equitably,  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  parties 
without  expense  to  either.  "  Each  alcalde,"  the  law  said, 
"shall  have  a  book,  called  the  'Book  of  Conciliacions,' 
in  which  to  keep  a  record  of  all  cases,  and  of  the  means 
taken  to  prevent  litigation."     But  "  ecclesiastical,  mili- 

1  Shea's  Penalosa  Quivira  Expedition. 


86  MINING-CAMPS. 

tary,  and  municipal  cases,  and  those  that  affect  public 
revenues,"  were  not  subjects  for  conciliacion  and  com- 
promise. The  ceremony  of  arbitration  as  a  necessary 
prelude  to  all  lawsuits  was  first  disregarded,  in  Cali- 
fornia, in  February,  1850.^  The  Spanish  principle  of 
conciliacion  is  doubtless  a  gift  of  Roman  jurisprudence. 
The  eighth  section  of  the  fourth  book  of  the  Pandects 
lays  down  the  principles  almost  exactly  as  now  accepted 
in  Mexico.  Some  of  the  old  provincial  laws  of  France 
provided  for  "  arbiters."  The  principle  is  recognized  as 
of  great  importance  in  international  law,  to  settle  diffi- 
culties and  prevent  war. 

There  was  a  form  of  local  and  special  alcaldeship 
first  known  to  Mexico  during  the  sixteenth  century, 
that  has,  in  modified  forms,  become  a  part  of  Western 
life  in  the  United  States.  Yearly  the  village  alcalde 
and  the  council  (if  one  existed)  chose  two  or  more 
alcaldes  de  mesta^  who  presided  over  the  semi-annual 
assemblages  of  the  live-stock  owners.  This  custom  was 
carried  wherever  Spanish  colonists  went.  In  California 
these  officers  were  known  as  jueces  del  campo  ("  judges 
of  the  plain  ").  They  were  obliged  to  be  present  at 
all  the  annual  rodeos^  or  meetings  on  horseback  in  the 
open  fields,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  and  branding 
all  the  live-stock  of  the  district.  These  rodeos  were 
the  most  important  celebrations  known  to  the  Spanish 
Californians.  Every  rancliero  and  vaquero  was  on  hand 
with  whirling  riata  and  gayly  caparisoned  mustang. 
The  jueces  were  often  called  upon  to  settle  disputes 
about  the  ownership  of  cattle,  the  identity  of  brands, 
and  similar  matters;  and  they  were  very  useful  and 
dignified  officials.     From  the  first,  the  Californians  ap- 

1  Von  Schmidt  vs.  Huntington,  1  Cal.  55. 


A  STUDY  OF  ALCALDES.  87 

pear  to  have  elected  their  own  jueces ;  and  several 
times  Americans  were  chosen  before  1846.  During  the 
military  occupation  of  the  territory,  the  office  of  jueces 
continued ;  Americans  serving  in  Los  Angeles,  Monte- 
rey, and  San  Jos^.  When  the  first  legislature  of  the 
State  of  California  met,  it  passed,  on  the  last  day  of 
its  session  (April  20,  1850),  a  bill  repealing  all  the  old 
Spanish  laws  "  except  the  laws  of  the  jueces  del  cam'por 
For  years  after,  and,  indeed,  as  long  as  any  rodeos  were 
held  in  the  pastoral  regions  of  California,  local  judges 
to  decide  disputes  were  chosen.  As  late  as  1870,  a  vis- 
itor to  San  Luis  Obispo  County  saw  American  and 
Spanish  cattle-raisers  holding  rodeos,  and  submitting 
peaceably  to  the  decisions  of  three  "judges  of  the  plain" 
chosen  from  among  their  number  on  the  first  day  of  the 
rodeo.  The  great  plains  of  California  have  all  been 
fenced,  and  are  being  sown  with  wheat  and  planted  with 
vines,  so  that  the  annual  rodeo  is  now  an  extinct  insti- 
tution. But  in  Western  Texas,  New  Mexico,  Colorado, 
and  northward,  wherever  great  cattle-ranges  are  found 
to-day,  the  stock-men,  in  their  picturesque  and  exciting 
"  round-ups,"  still  follow  the  ancient  Spanish  plan  ;  not 
knowing  that  it  is  a  heritage  from  a  race  they  despise, 
they  choose  "  cattle-judges,"  to  settle  disputes,  and  up- 
hold their  decisions  as  final. 

The  strange  vitality  of  that  nomad  institution,  the 
alcalde  de  mesta,  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  it  was 
perfectly  adapted  to  the  needs  of  a  pastoral  community, 
as  much  to  cattle-owners  and  cow-boys  as  to  rancheros 
and  vaqueros.  But  the  fixed  and  permanent  office  of 
the  true  town-alcalde  has  proved  hardly  less  enduring, 
and  is  certainly  much  more  instructive  to  the  student 
of  institutions. 

The  Mexican  alcaldeship  of  to-day  is  much  the  same 


88  MINING-CAMPS. 

office  that  the  first  Spanish  colonists  knew.  It  is  a 
good  working  combination  of  justice  of  the  peace,  town- 
constable,  town-recorder ;  it  involves  a  sponsorship  be- 
fore the  law ;  it  possesses  a  sort  of  patriarchal  authority. 
In  each  village,  the  power  of  the  alcalde  is  supreme :  his 
will  is  exercised  over  the  in-coming  and  the  out-going, 
the  eating  and  the  sleeping,  the  toil  and  the  recreation, 
of  every  inhabitant.  Each  traveller  visits  him  to  make 
inquiries,  to  secure  bargains,  or  to  settle  disputes  with 
his  servants  or  guides.  Questions  the  most  trivial  are 
asked  in  the  same  breath  with  questions  the  most  stu- 
pendous :  to  this  Indian  he  quotes  the  market-price  of 
onions,  and  to  that  blushing  senorita  gives  advice  con- 
cerning rival  suitors.  He  has  social  privileges  and  polit- 
ical power.  He  is  the  chief  overseer  of  local  interests. 
If  a  travelling  show  wishes  to  visit  the  town,  it  usually 
bribes  the  alcalde  to  permit  it  to  exhibit  there,  and  the 
village  priest  to  announce  it  from  his  parish  pulpit.  The 
messengers  of  the  king  used  to  carry  letters  of  commen- 
dation to  the  alcaldes  along  their  route.  The  simple 
and  ignorant  peasants  have  personal  dealings  with  few 
other  officials.  Fear  and  reverence  encircle  the  throne 
of  this  little  autocrat,  the  alcalde,  to  whom  every  con- 
ceivable difficulty  is  brought  for  solution.  For  these 
reasons,  the  office  is  one  of  the  most  interesting,  prime- 
val, and  romantic  of  yet  surviving  Spanish  institutions 
upon  the  continent.  ^ 

The  rule  of  the  alcalde  in  California  was  never  so 
firmly  established  or  so  despotic  as  in  Mexico,  but  it 
was  always  of  greater  importance  than  its  nominal 
rights  and  duties  would  seem  to  justify.     The  powers 

1  Books  of  travel  teem  with  allusions.  Mr.  D.  S.  Richardson  of 
California,  the  private  secretary  of  Minister  Foster,  in  Mexico,  writes  to 
me  giving  an  account  of  the  alcalde's  importance  in  village-life. 


A  STUDY  OF  ALCALDES.  89 

authorized  by  the  decree  of  March  20,  1837,  were  sup- 
plemented and  increased  by  the  weight  of  local  custom  ; 
for  alcaldes  had  existed  in  California  since  the  first 
pueblo  was  founded. 

This  decree  of  1837  re-organized  the  judiciary  of 
California,  providing  for  courts  of  condliacion^  or  lower 
alcalde-courts,  for  courts  of  first  instance,  courts  of 
second  instance,  courts  of  third  instance,  and  final 
appeals  to  the  Mexican  supreme  court.  But  the  revo- 
lutions and  political  difficulties  in  Alta  California,  then 
and  thereafter,  prevented  the  practical  adoption  of  any 
such  system :  it  simply  remained  a  dead  letter.  The 
powers  which  it  gave  the  alcalde  were  less  than  that 
officer  really  exercised.  An  enumeration  of  these 
powers,  though  suggestive  and  useful,  must  therefore 
be  accompanied  with  a  statement  of  the  alcalde's  un- 
written duties. 

"Alcaldes,"  it  is  provided  in  this  decree,  "  shall  secure 
good  order;"  shall  execute  the  laws  of  the  prefects; 
shall  call  for  a  military  force,  or  upon  the  citizens  for 
help,  when  needed ;  shall  see  that  the  residents  of  the 
town  live  by  useful  occupation;  shall  reprimand  idle, 
vicious,  and  vagabond  persons ;  shall  preside  over  coun- 
cil meetings,  and  vote  there ;  and  may  impose  fines  of 
not  more  than  twenty-five  dollars. 

Jurisdiction  over  mining-claims  was  expressly  with- 
held from  the  California  alcaldes,  and  was  left  to  the 
mining-deputation  of  the  nearest  province,  Sonora. 

The  large  towns  were  given  three  alcaldes,  six  regi- 
dors,  and  two  syndicos ;  the  nine  forming  the  ayunta- 
miento,  and  the  senior  alcalde  presiding.  These  officers 
were  to  be  elected  yearly ;  but  the  office-holding  power 
was  not  limited,  and  it  was  declared  that  "  no  one  must 
refuse  to  serve  without  having  the  governor's  permis- 


90  MINING-CAMPS. 

sion  to  retire."  Certain  officers  of  the  government 
were  prohibited  from  being  members  of  the  ayunta- 
miento. 

The  same  Act  of  1837  defines  the  duties  of  this  coun- 
cil. It  was  to  have  charge  of  the  streets  and  the  ceme- 
teries, of  sanitary  aifairs,  of  prisons  and  hospitals,  of  the 
inspection  of  drugs,  liquors,  and  provisions.  It  was  to 
act  as  a  committee  of  charity  in  case  of  pestilence  j  was 
to  keep  a  record  of  births,  marriages,  and  deaths ;  was 
to  provide  for  market-places,  straight  paved  streets, 
bridges,  parks,  and  public  fountains.  One  of  its  duties 
was  that  of  "making  contracts  for  all  sorts  of  diver- 
sions," such  as  public  games  and  shows.  It  was  em- 
powered to  establish  schools,  and  pay  the  teachers  out 
of  the  municipal  funds.  Lastly,  it  was  required  "to 
be  impartial  to  all  citizens,  rich  or  poor,"  to  protect 
the  weights  and  measures,  to  expend  public  moneys 
honestly,  and  to  report  annually  to  the  governor. 
Each  member  of  the  ayuntamiento  was  responsible  for 
mal-administration  or  malfeasance.  When  elected, 
they  were  sworn  in  by  the  prefect,  or  by  a  former 
alcalde. 

In  some  of  the  Mexican  towns,  the  councils  were 
doubtless  burdened  with  most  of  the  duties  described 
in  the  previous  paragraph.  In  California  towns,  the 
council  seldom  met,  since  the  office  was  not  salaried ; 
and  the  alcalde  performed  most  of  its  functions,  per- 
haps ordering  a  "  horn-burning "  in  the  pueblo  square 
as  a  sufficient  sanitary  measure  when  unusual  sickness 
prevailed. 

A  subsequent  Act  of  1837  restored  certain  powers  to 
the  alcalde.  In  the  departments  of  California,  New 
Mexico,  and  Tabasco,  he  was  empowered  to  perform 
the  functions  of  judge  of  first  instance  in  all  districts 


A  STUDY  OF   ALCALDES.  91 

where  there  were  no  such  judges ;  and  this  was  after- 
wards sustained  by  the  American  courts.^ 

But  in  most  instances  the  alcaldes  were  even  more 
than  "judges  of  first  instance."  The  disordered  condi- 
tion of  California  gave  the  office  greater  power,  but  at 
the  same  time  rendered  its  tenure  more  precarious,  than 
the  Mexican  Government  had  contemplated.  We  have 
before  alluded  to  these  disasters  in  speaking  of  the 
sudden  wreck  of  the  missions,  and  the  scattering  of 
the  Indians.  Bands  of  wandering  trappers  descended 
into  the  valleys;  the  Russians  had  settled  at  Bodega 
and  Fort  Ross;  and  the  Americans  in  the  country 
aided  Gen.  Solis  in  his  unsuccessful  rebellion  of  1830. 
Minor  disturbances  followed,  and  the  Indians  raided 
outlying  ranchos,  American  rifles  decided  the  success 
of  Alvarado's  revolution  of  1836-38 ;  and  from  that  time 
the  American  party  began  to  organize,  much  as  it  did 
in  Texas,  aided  in  the  downfall  of  Alvarado,  and  the 
success  of  Micheltorena  in  1842.  By  1845  the  corrup- 
tion of  his  government  caused  a  new  rebellion,  headed 
by  Castro,  Pio  Pico,  and  others ;  and  Micheltorena  was 
deposed.  The  American  settlers  in  the  Sacramento 
valley,  and  near  Sonoma,  soon  had  reason  to  believe 
that  movements  were  on  foot  to  drive  them  out ;  and 
they  organized  the  noted  "  Bear  Flag  "  battalion,  com- 
manded by  Captains  Ide  and  Grigsby,  which  thrust 
Castro  from  the  Sonoma  and  Sacramento  valleys,  and 
was  on  the  eve  of  proclaiming  a  republic  when  Fremont 
and  Stockton  came  to  their  aid. 

While  such  political  changes  were  in  progress,  the 
alcalde's  tenure  of  office  became  precarious,  because  any 
district  or  town  that  wanted  an  alcalde  preferred  to 


1  Menavs.  Le  Roy,  1  Cal.  Rep.,  216;  also  Panaud  vs.  Jones,  1  Cal. 
Rep.,  448.    See  1  Cal.  Rep.,  559,  appendix,  on  general  alcalde  system. 


92  MINING-CAMPS. 

choose  him  for  an  indefinite  period.  Since  the  alcalde 
made  his  own  laws,  and  saw  them  enforced  according 
to  his  own  methods,  an  unpopular  law  or  a  disagree- 
able decision  speedily  caused  discontent,  and  sometimes 
ended  in  an  appeal  to  the  governor,  or  even  in  a  'pro- 
nunciamiento  and  a  public  assembly,  taking  the  alcalde- 
ship  away,  and  ordering  a  new  election.  This  was  done, 
in  some  instances,  before  the  American  conquest. 

In  practice,  the  only  judge  above  the  California  al- 
calde was  the  governor  of  the  province,  who  could  grant 
tracts  of  agricultural  or  pastoral  lands  in  much  the 
same  way  as  the  alcalde  could  grant  town-lots,  except 
that  the  papers  and  applications  had  to  be  forwarded 
to  Mexico  for  final  approval.  Castro,  Alvarado,  and 
Pio  Pico  granted  so  many  "  concessions,"  that,  in  some 
cases,  a  single  tract  was  given  several  owners,  each 
showing  equal  title  to  the  whole.  Nominally  there  was 
a  veto-power  vested  in  the  governor's  council,  called  by 
courtesy  a  "  departmental  legislature ; "  but,  under  the 
governors  we  have  mentioned,  large  tracts  were  given 
away,  unchecked  even  by  Mexico.  American  courts 
sifted  and  tested  these  grants,  refusing  to  confirm  a 
large  number  on  the  grounds  of  illegality  according  to 
Mexican  law.^  After  1837  the  governor  held  the  only 
true  appellate  court  in  California. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  "  Book  of  Condliacions  "  that 
was  kept  by  each  alcalde.  Besides  this,  he  kept  a 
"  Book  of  Verbal  Processes,"  recording  his  judgments 
therein;  also,  and  of  more  importance,  he  was  com- 
pelled, according  to  the  "Plan  of  Pitic,"  a  Spanish 
law  of  1789,  to  record  all  the  grants  of  lands  made  by 
him  within  the   pueblo  bounds,  to   have   them   signed 

1  Cases  of  Ferris  vs.  Coover,  10  Cal.  Rep. ;  Berryessa  vs.  Schultz,  21 
Cal.  Rep.;  Waterman  vs.  Smith,  13  Cal.  Rep.;  and  others. 


A  STFDY  OF  ALCALDES.  93 

and  attested  (though  without  seals),  and  a  copy  deliv- 
ered to  the  petitioner.  These  books  of  record  kept  by 
alcaldes  during  the  Spanish  era,  and  previous  to  the 
organization  of  the  State,  were  received  as  evidence  of 
land-titles  on  proof  that  the  signatures  of  the  alcalde 
and  clerk  (jyndicos)  were  genuine.^  An,  alcalde  deed 
to  land  was  not  void  because  no  consideration  was  ex- 
pressed, nor  were  transfers  of  property  which  he  made 
compelled  to  have  a  price  mentioned.^ 

The  old  Spanish  forms  of  wills  were  extremely  simple ; 
and  an  alcalde,  though  appointed  as  executor,  could 
authenticate  the  document  in  his  judicial  capacity,  if 
only  he  was  not  named  in  the  will  as  heir  or  legatee, 
nor  derived  any  compensation  for  administering  it. 
The  will  of  Anastasio  Alviso  of  the  pueblo  of  San  Josd, 
dated  Sept.  19,  1846,  contains  a  list  of  "passive  debts" 
such  as,  "  I  declare  that  I  owe  Seuora  Romero  seven 
hides;"  also  a  list  of  "active  debts"  such  as,  "I  declare 
that  Vicente  Monez  shall  pay  for  the  kitchen  utensils 
whatever  he  in  his  conscience  shall  think  proper  to 
deliver  over."  ^  Primitive  habits  of  life  are  manifest  in 
every  line  of  such  quaint  documents,  in  spirit  centuries 
removed  from  the  California  of  to-day,  though  written 
less  than  forty  years  ago. 

During  the  military  rule  of  the  American  officers, 
who  governed  California  before  it  was  yielded  by  treaty 
to  the  United  States,  the  powers  of  the  alcaldes  were 
much  limited  in  the  coast-towns,  though  almost  as  exten- 
sive as  ever  in  places  where  no  military  were  stationed. 


1  Cases  of  Touchard  vs.  Keyes,  21  Cal.  Rep. ;  and  Downer  vs.  Smith, 
24  Cal.  Rep.  Halleck  says  that  Governor  Pio  Pico  made  antedated  land- 
grants,  and  inserted  them  in  the  blank  leaves  of  record-books. 

2  Merle  vs.  Mathews,  26  Cal.,  455. 
»  Panaud  v«.  Joaes,  1  Cal.  Rep. 


94  MINING-CAMPS. 

In  1847,  before  the  close  of  the  war,  while  General 
Kearney  was  military  governor,  he  appointed  alcaldes 
whenever  vacancies  occurred,  exercised  close  supervis- 
ion over  their  acts,  and  removed  them  whenever  he 
saw  fit.  He  directed  the  alcalde  of  San  Jos^,  John 
Barton,  to  dismiss  a  suit  that  the  Mexican  courts  had 
already  decided;  he  advised  John  Nash,  alcalde  of 
Sonoma,  that  a  writ  of  restitution  he  had  issued  in 
an  ecclesiastical  case  was  illegal ;  he  sent  word  to  H. 
D.  Fitch,  alcalde  of  San  Diego,  empowering  liim  to 
fine,  imprison,  or  both,  certain  unruly  persons. 

When  Colonel  Mason  succeeded  General  Kearney  as 
military  governor  of  California,  he  announced  that 
"  the  alcaldes  are  not  authorities  of  the  United  States, 
nor  are  they  Mexican  authorities.  They  are  the  civil 
magistrates  of  California,  and  therefore  the  authorities 
of  California  within  their  respective  jurisdictions,  sub- 
ject to  removal  from  office  by  order  of  the  governor." 
He  authorized  them  "to  continue  in  the  practice  and 
custom  of  the  country,"  and  to  grant  lots  within  the 
town-limits,  but  construed  the  word  "  grant "  to  mean 
"  sell  for  the  benefit  of  the  municipality."  The  alcaldes 
were  not  to  perform  the  marriage  ceremony  in  cases 
where  either  of  the  contracting  parties  was  a  Roman 
Catholic. 

About  this  time  the  spirit  of  change  and  uncertainty 
prevailed  in  many  places,  and  there  were  numerous 
instances  of  violation  of  property-rights.  Squatters 
were  taking  possession  of  lands  near  the  missions  San 
Jos^  and  Santa  Clara,  where,  the  previous  winter,  they 
had  been  permitted  to  occupy  some  old  buildings.  The 
San  Jos^  alcalde  was  ordered  to  remove  them.  Troops 
were  sent  to  the  disputed  lands ;  but  a  compromise  was 
effected,  and  the  settlers  agreed  to  pay  a  small  rent 


A  STUDY  OF  ALCALDES.  95 

until  the  true  limits  of  the  mission-property  should  be 
ascertained. 

The  authority  of  the  alcalde,  in  all  cases  between 
citizen  and  citizen,  was  decided  to  be  the  same  as  under 
the  Mexican  law,  and  to  include  minor  cases  in  which 
citizens  and  soldiers  were  involved.  An  officer  was 
reprimanded  in  1848  for  interfering  in  such  a  case,  and 
for  "  sending  a  file  of  soldiers  to  rescue  a  disputed  sad- 
dle from  the  alcalde's  juzgadoT 

Indian  troubles  occurring  in  September,  1847,  regu- 
lations were  issued  that  all  peaceable  Indians  should 
procure  protection  papers  from  the  alcaldes  of  their  re- 
spective districts.  In  December  a  letter  from  Colonel 
Mason  urges  the  Indian  agent  to  have  them  appoint 
alcaldes  among  themselves  for  their  own  better  govern- 
ment. A  later  proclamation  imposed  a  fine  of  one 
hundred  dollars  on  persons  convicted  before  an  alcalde 
of  selling  liquor  to  Indians. 

During  October,  1847,  a  sailor  who  had  stabbed  the 
mate  of  the  ship  "  Vesper "  was  turned  over  to  the 
alcalde  of  San  Francisco  for  trial.  "  In  the  old  alcalde 
courts  of  California,"  Colonel  Mason  writes,  "the 
alcalde  tried  such  cases;  and  when  the  sentence  was 
death,  the  governor  either  ordered  the  execution,  or 
sent  the  case  to  Mexico  for  further  advice."  Some 
time  in  November,  one  Anastacio  Ruiz  of  San  Vicente, 
San  Diego  County,  charged  with  murder,  was  tried  be- 
fore a  jury  of  twelve  presided  over  by  the  alcalde. 
Colonel  Mason  authorizing  them  to  inflict  capital  pun- 
ishment. He  was  probably  acquitted,  as  the  case  is 
not  again  mentioned  in  the  California  Documents. 

Although  the  acting  governor  had  appointed  alcaldes 
to  fill  all  vacancies,  yet  in  most  cases  he  asked  the 
people  of  the  district  to  signify  by  petition  their  pref- 


96  MDTING-CAMPS. 

erences.  In  1847  native  Calif ornian  alcaldes  were  in 
charge  in  only  four  or  five  towns  on  the  coast.  Every- 
where else  Americans  ruled.  At  Sonoma  a  town- 
council  was  elected,  and  the  alcalde  issued  certificates 
of  election.  At  San  Jos^  the  town-council  of  six  was 
twice  voted  for,  and  considerable  difficulty  followed; 
but  the  matter  was  settled  by  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  of  three  to  examine  the  returns. 

Dec.  20,  1847,  an  American  alcalde  who  applied  for 
information  was  told  by  Colonel  Mason,  that,  "  in  cases 
of  horse-stealing,  a  fine,  and  hard  labor  on  public  works, 
and  in  aggravated  cases  fifty  lashes  in  addition,  is  in 
accordance  with  the  old  California  practice."  A  month 
or  so  later,  a  commercial  case,  tried  in  San  Jos^  before 
an  alcalde  and  a  jury  of  six  men,  was  appealed  to  Colo- 
nel Mason,  who  denied  it  on  the  ground  that  there  was 
no  higher  court. 

San  Jos^  pueblo  at  this  time  had  two  alcaldes,  the 
first  being  an  American,  the  other  a  Spaniard.  These 
two  officers  appointed  a  town  treasurer,  who  gave  bonds, 
and  at  once  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties. 

The  alcalde  of  San  Luis  Obispo,  early  in  1848,  organ- 
ized a  party  of  thirty  settlers  to  check  the  depredations 
of  Indians  who  had  been  stealing  cattle,  and  acted  as 
their  leader.  Colonel  Mason  offered  to  furnish  them 
ammunition  if  called  upon  to  do  so. 

In  March,  1848,  there  was  but  one  alcalde,  Elam 
Brown,  in  all  the  "Contra  Costa  and  San  Joaquin 
region,"  a  territory  some  hundreds  of  miles  in  extent. 
Stephen  Cooper  had  just  been  appointed  alcalde  at 
Benicia,  the  new  town  north  of  Carquinez  Straits. 

The  various  alcaldes  in  California  were  notified  by 
Colonel  Mason,  that  "  notes  and  accounts  contracted  in 
the  United  States  cannot  be  legally  enforced  and  col- 


A  STUDY  OF  ALCALDES.       *  97 

lected  in  California  until  the  United  States  shall  or- 
ganize a  territorial  government  in  this  country,  and 
extend  her  laws  over  the  same."  No  debts  made  else- 
where could  be  collected  in  California  until  the  State 
constitution  was  in  full  operation. 

By  the  close  of  October,  1848,  the  evil  effect  of  the 
immigration  caused  by  the  gold  excitement  began  to 
be  shown  in  some  places.  Several  murders  were  com- 
mitted. Three  men  were  tried  by  an  alcalde  and  jury 
at  San  Jos^  pueblo,  for  robbery  and  attempted  murder 
of  two  returned  miners,  found  guilty,  and  promptly  exe- 
cuted. Colonel  Mason  wrote :  "  I  shall  not  disapprove 
of  this  course,  and  shall  only  endeavor  to  secure  to 
every  man  charged  with  a  capital  crime  a  fair  trial  by 
a  jury  of  his  countrymen."  A  Mr.  Reed  and  his  entire 
family,  ten  persons  in  all,  were  murdered  at  Mission 
San  Miguel ;  and  the  perpetrators  were  captured,  tried 
before  an  alcalde  jury,  and  hung.  Other  murders 
occurred ;  and  some  of  the  accused  were  given  jury-trial, 
some  were  tried  before  an  alcalde  without  a  jury,  some 
were  lynched. 

The  most  important  alcaldeship  in  California,  and 
that  which  probably  contains  the  most  complete  and 
valuable  records,  was  that  of  San  Francisco.  Its  his- 
tory from  the  days  of  the  marine  pueblo  or  emharcadero 
of  Yerba  Buena,  established  in  1833,  to  the  days  when 
the  last  alcalde  under  the  military  governors  resigned 
his  position,  and  was  re-elected  as  the  first  mayor  under 
the  State  laws  and  legislative  Act  of  Incorporation, 
will  sufficiently  show  the  continuity  of  the  office,  and 
the   importance   of  its  archives.^     No   order  actually 

1  The  Spanish  archives  kept  in  San  Francisco  are  the  basis  of  many- 
valuable  real-estate  rights.  They  embrace  the  expediente  or  record  of 
proceedings;  the  petitions,  maps,  decree,  and  titulo  or  title-deed  of  nu- 


98  MINING-CAMPS. 

announciDg  the  establishment  of  the  pueblo  was  ever 
issued ;  but  its  existence  was  assumed  through  all  the 
changes,  revolutions,  and  confusion  of  the  last  years  ot 
Mexican  rule,  as  amply  shown  in  Hon.  J.  W.  Dwinelle's 
argument  for  the  pueblo  land-titles. 

Nov.  27,  1835,  the  people  of  Dolores  Mission  held 
their  first  election,  and  chose  J.  J.  Estudillo  as  alcalde. 
There  was  then  but  one  dwelling,  the  tent  of  an  English 
trader  named  Richardson,  on  the  Yerba  Buena  cove. 
An  adventurous  American,  Jacob  P.  Leese,  procured, 
after  much  difficulty,  permission  to  lay  out  a  new  town, 
and  by  July  4,  1836,  had  built  a  shanty  of  rough  boards 
as  a  trading-house  for  the  rancheros  about  the  bay. 
The  only  other  building  in  the  vicinity  was  an  Indian 
temiscal,  or  sweat-house.  The  presidio  contained  no 
garrison,  and  only  one  resident,  a  superannuated  sol- 
dier named  Pina.  The  rule  of  Alcalde  Estudillo  ex- 
tended over  the  entire  peninsula ;  but  he  lived  upon  an 
extensive  ranch  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  bay,  in 
what  is  now  Alameda  County,  and  spent  little  time  at 
mission  or  pueblo.  Extreme  simplicity  of  life  and  man- 
ners prevailed  among  the  inhabitants. 

Several  changes  in  the  alcaldeship  took  place;  and 
in  1839  the  franchises,  books,  and  papers  of  presidio, 
mission,  and  pueblo,  appear  to  have  come  into  the  pos- 
session of  J.  P.  Guerrero,  the  alcalde,  who  assumed 
jurisdiction  over  all  except  the  immediate  possessions 
of  the  Mission  Dolores.  All  the  grants  made  by  this 
alcalde  before  the  war  have  been  held  by  American 

merous  grants;  the  formal  books  Tamas  del  razon  of  1828;  the  Jimeno 
Index,  or  list  of  grants,  and  its  continuation,  the  Hartnell  Index;  and 
the  evidences  of  the  approval  of  the  departmental  legislation.  There 
are  five  hundred  and  seventy-nine  complete  Spanish  grants,  and  three 
hundred  and  fourteen  incomplete  or  inchoate  ones,  recorded  iu  these 
archives. 


A  STUDY  OF  ALCALDES.  99 

courts  to  have  been  made  in  the  course  of  his  ordi- 
nary duties.  After  the  American  ships  took  possession, 
General  Kearney  appointed  Washington  Bartlett  as  ma- 
gistrate and  justice,  and  gave  him  the  right  to  give 
away  town-lots ;  also,  a  little  later,  ordered  the  sale  of 
certain  water-lots.  These  orders  constitute  the  earliest 
American  titles  to  real  estate  in*  San  Francisco.  The 
title  of  the  United  States  to  the  public  domain  was 
held  to  relate  back  to  the  time  of  the  occupancy  of  the 
country ,1  when  Mexican  laws  ceased,  except  as  re-estab- 
lished by  military  authorities,  as  they  were  in  most 
cases. 

Alcalde  Bartlett,  and  his  successors  Hyde  and  Leaven- 
worth, exercised  control  over  San  Francisco  affairs  at  a 
turbulent  period.  As  soon  as  the  war  closed.  Colonel 
Mason,  and  his  successor  General  Peter  Riley,  attempted 
to  unite  the  civil  and  military  functions  of  government; 
and  an  anomalous  condition  of  affairs  followed.  There 
was,  for  a  time,  nothing  to  set  things  in  motion ;  and 
neither  law  nor  administration  of  justice  existed  except 
so  far  as  exemplified  in  the  alcalde  courts,  which  had 
known  no  checks  and  had  taken  no  vacations.  San 
Francisco  was  growing  rapidly ;  and  the  local  customs 
and  simple  code  of  a  rude  Mexican  population,  known 
in  written  forms  to  but  few,  chiefly  dependent  on  verb- 
al processes  and  instantaneous  decisions,  were  suddenly 
required  to  fulfil  the  complex  and  varying  needs  of  an 
active  and  enterprising  people,  carrying  on  immense 
business  transactions,  and  sincerely  anxious  to  base 
them  on  the  laws  of  the  United  States.  Governor 
Mason  by  proclamation  enforced  the  Mexican  civil  law 
in  its  main  features,  and  set  Messrs.  Halleck  and  Hart- 


1  See  Woodworth  vs.  Fulton,  1  Cal.  Bep.,  295;  Reynolds  vs.  West, 
1  Cal.  Rep.,  333. 


100  MINING-CAMPS. 

nell  at  work  to  make  a  translation  and  digest  of  such 
parts  of  the  laws  of  1837  as  were  judged  applicable,  and 
still  in  force.^  The  people,  accepting  all  this  as  a  sad 
but  inevitable  necessity,  began  to  struggle  towards 
local  organizations  and  a  State  government. 

During  this  unsettled  period,  the  "judge  of  first  in- 
stance," or  alcalde,  sat  each  day  in  the  little  school- 
room on  the  plaza  of  San  Francisco,  trying  cases,  and 
rendering  that  speedy  justice  that  was  then  more  de- 
sirable than  exact  justice,  since  men's  time,  in  those 
early  days  of  1849,  was  worth  from  sixteen  dollars  to 
one  hundred  dollars  per  day.  The  judge  listened  to 
brief  arguments,  announced  his  decision,  took  his  fees, 
and  called  up  another  case :  hardly  once  in  a  hundred 
times  wai  there  any  thought  of  an  appeal  to  the  gov- 
ernor at  Monterey.  Criminal  jurisprudence,  however, 
was  in  decidedly  a  bad  way :  neither  jails,  district  funds, 
nor  city  organization  existed ;  so  that  sheriffs,  guards, 
and  other  officers  had  to  serve  without  pay,  and  sel- 
dom, until  the  community  was  fully  roused,  could  a 
trial  be  had  in  cases  demanding  capital  punishment. 
For  lesser  crimes,  lashes  or  hard  labor  on  the  streets 
could  always  be  imposed. 

The  powers  of  the  alcalde  increased  apace,  and  vari- 
ous difficulties  between  that  officer  and  two  rival  town- 
councils  early  in  1849  culminated  in  the  formation  of 
an  independent  organization  called  "The  Provisional 
Government  of  San  Francisco."  ^    Its  chief  feature  was  a 

1  Ready  for  publication  in  July,  1849,  pp.  40.  Printed  in  the  appen- 
dix to  Debates  in  the  Convention  of  California.  J.  Ross  Browne,  1850. 
Washington. 

2  Early  in  1849  the  citizens  of  Sonoma  and  of  Sacramento  had  elected 
similar  district  assemblies.  In  San  Francisco,  Feb.  12,  the  people  to  the 
number  of  five  hundred  assembled,  organized,  adopted  a  plan  of  gov- 
ernment, appointed  an  election-day,  and  asked  the  council  and  alcalde 
to  resign. 


A  STOEY  OF  ALCALDES.  101 

legislature  of  fifteen  members.  They  met  March  5, 1849, 
and  swore  "  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  the  government  of  this  district."  They  or- 
ganized for  business,  began  to  make  laws,  and  took  the 
records  of  the  town  from  Alcalde  Leavenworth,  with 
whom  there  was  great  dissatisfaction,  and  who  had  re- 
fused to  resign  as  requested.  It  was  a  government  de 
facto. 

March  10  they  addressed  a  letter  to  Major-General 
Persifor  F.  Smith,  in  which  they  pointed  out  the  fact 
that  the  civil  institutions  of  California  were  "neither 
Mexican  nor  American,"  but  nondescript;  that  many 
ministerial  and  judicial  offices  of  the  pure  Mexican  sys- 
tem had  been  allowed  to  sink  into  disuse ;  and  that  the 
only  office  retained  was  that  of  alcalde,  which  office 
"  had  been  permitted  to  obtain  and  exercise  a  most  ex- 
tensive and  unlimited  jurisdiction,  wholly  incompatible 
with  the  dictates  of  reason  and  justice.  The  right  of 
appeal  to  the  military  governor  has  been  denied  or 
evaded."  "  Undoubtedly,"  the  committee  added,  "  this 
office  of  alcalde  was  continued  "  (through  the  interreg- 
num) "by  the  presumed  consent  of  the  people,  and 
without  any  alteration,  except  that  the  right  of  appeal 
became  inoperative.  The  jurisdiction,  power,  and  duty 
of  the  office,  partially  limited  by  martial  law,  became, 
without  it,  unlimited  and  irresponsible.  The  tenure, 
duty,  and  property  of  the  office,  as  existing  under  mar- 
tial law,  without  any  definite  or  prescribed  rules,  was 
continued  so,  and  the  people  left  without  any  law  in 
the  adjudication  of  every  civil  and  criminal  issue,  ex- 
cept the  mere  will  of  this  single  officer,"  who  is  "elected 
by  the  people,"  and  "has  all  public  records  in  his  hands," 
and  "  owns  no  superior  tribunal,"  not  even  to  "  compel 
Lim  to  discharge  his  obligations  with  his  fellow-citizens 


102  MTNING-CAMPS. 

as  a  private  individual.  .  .  .  All  the  civil  and  crimi- 
nal issues  that  come  before  him  are  determined  accord- 
ing to  his  own  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  directed 
and  enforced  by  his  mere  will ; "  and,  as  this  emphatic 
document  reiterates  in  closing,  "without  the  right  of 
appeal."  But  Provisional-Governor  Riley,  to  whom  a 
similar  statement  had  been  made,  proclaimed  the  entire 
proceeding  illegal,  and  the  legislature  without  authority, 
forbade  the  payment  of  taxes  to  its  subordinates,  up- 
held the  alcalde,  and  ignored  the  complaints  formulated 
in  the  above  letter  to  Major-General  Smith.  The  alcalde 
afterwards  resigned ;  and  a  new  election  was  ordered, 
resulting  in  the  choice  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Geary.  It  was  a 
noteworthy  struggle  throughout,  and  the  temper  of  the 
citizens  was  admirable. 

When  a  city  government  under  the  State  Constitu- 
tion was  established,  the  alcaldeship,  with  its  varied 
powers,  came  to  an  end,  and  yielded  up  its  ancient 
authority.  Alcalde  Geary,  the  last  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco alcaldes,  was  re-elected  Jan.  1,  1850,  and  in  April 
was  chosen  city  mayor  under  its  first  charter.  Thus 
the  institutional  link  was  established :  thus  the  office  of 
mayor  of  San  Francisco  derived  its  historical  descent, 
not  from  American  and  English  sources,  but  from  the 
semi-despotic  rulers  of  Spanish  pueblos,  and  the  trib- 
ute-levying governors  of  mediaeval  towns  of  Castilian 
frontiers.  The  term  survives ;  and  San  Francisco,  me- 
tropolis of  the  Pacific  Coast,  still  cherishes  the  title 
of  "ancient  and  honorable  pueblo." 

The  story  of  the  alcaldeship  in  San  Francisco  was 
repeated  on  a  lesser  scale  in  many  other  towns  and 
villages  of  California.  Everywhere  it  was  of  funda- 
mental importance  during  the  transition  era,  and  every- 
where it  presented  remarkable  minglings  of  Mexican  and 


A  STUDY  OF  ALCALDES.  103 

American  features.  The  alcaldes,  whether  elected  or  ap- 
pointed, were  usually  honest  and  intelligent,  anxious  to 
deal  out  justice  with  an  impartial  hand,  well  sustained  by 
the  American  settlers,  and  obeyed  by  the  Mexicans.  But 
the  confusion  of  authorities  was  vexatious  and  amusing. 
Some  offices  contained  only  a  few  worn  and  smoky  Span- 
ish manuscripts,  heirlooms  of  the  last  century ;  in  some 
the  codes  of  Iowa,  Illinois,  Missouri,  South  Carolina, 
and  other  States,  were  in  constant  use ;  in  some  were  a 
few  volumes  of  French,  Spanish,  German,  or  English 
law,  that  the  new  alcaldes  had  somehow  obtained  to  add 
an  air  of  impressiveness  to  the  scantily  furnished  room. 
Before  leaving  this  subject,  and  passing  to  the  broader 
field  of  the  mining-camp,  we  must  sum  up  and  define 
the  duties  and  powers  of  the  typical  alcalde.  We  have 
seen  that  he  always  wielded  great  power,  and  sometimes 
wielded  sole  authority  throughout  his  district,  in  both 
civil  and  criminal  cases;  that  he  was  the  guardian  of 
the  common  and  town  lands ;  that  he  summoned  courts, 
and  appointed  minor  municipal  officers;  that  he  exer- 
cised an  almost  parental  supervision  over  the  inhabit- 
ants of  his  pueblo.  Studying  his  multifarious  func- 
tions, we  discover  with  admiration,  not  unmixed  with 
awe,  that  one  and  the  same  person  was  often  supreme 
judge,  clerk  of  court,  town-constable,  sheriff,  recorder, 
treasurer,  justice  of  the  peace,  land-officer,  government- 
agent  in  land  deliveries,^  superintendent  of  roads,  town 
board  of  health,  board  of  school-trustees,  arbitrator  in 
petty  disputes,  general  advisory  board  for  young  and 

1  A  petition  for  a  land-grant  was  often,  in  Spanish  times,  referred 
by  the  governor  to  an  alcalde  to  report  on.  The  last  of  the  steps  in 
judicial  procedure  in  land-grants  was  the  formal  delivery  of  the  tract, 
along  with  a  map,  by  the  alcalde  of  the  district  in  which  it  lay,  after 
examining  the  bounds.  This  ceremony  was  akin  to  the  "  livery  of  seizin  " 
of  English  common  law.    See  also  United  States  vs.  Pico,  G  Wall.  536. 


104  MINING-CAMPS. 

old,  and  even,  near  the  coast,  judge  in  admiralty  to  pro- 
nounce upon  all  marine  cases.  One  and  the  same  room 
was  often  the  police-court,  probate-court,  civil-court, 
criminal-court,  court  of  equity,  court  of  appeal,  land- 
office,  council-hall,  and  conciliacion  court;  it  was  also 
bed-room,  dining-room,  kitchen,  library,  and  drawing- 
room  of  the  busy,  potent,  and  ubiquitous  alcalde.  Stran- 
gest fact  of  all  in  this  unique  combination,  the  lordly 
alcalde  palace  which  sheltered  such  an  army  of  officials 
was  probably,  in  the  mines  at  least,  an  edifice  of  can- 
vas, with  an  empty  nail-keg  for  a  chimney-top.  In  the 
pueblos  of  the  coast,  the  alcalde  assembled  himself  in 
some  old  Mexican  house,  under  yellow  roofing-tiles 
moulded  years  before  by  serfs  of  the  mission,  and  be- 
side priest-planted  gardens  of  olive  and  orange.  One 
American  alcalde  of  the  transition  period  lived  and 
held  court  in  a  house  of  zinc,  whose  outside  measure- 
ments were  less  than  twelve  feet  in  length  and  breadth. 
The  law  in  which  these  men  dealt  was  as  concentrated, 
and  free  from  waste  and  surplus,  as  were  the  houses  in 
which  they  dwelt.  The  various  functions  of  govern- 
ment were  performed  without  clashing,  by  this  happily 
invented  alcalde-system ;  judicial  jealousies,  and  brow- 
beating of  lesser  officers,  were  absolutely  unknown.  In 
the  nature  of  the  case,  nothing  could  be  less  permanent 
than  such  an  all-containing  office  as  that  of  the  alcalde 
in  its  prime ;  but  nothing  could  well  be  more  influential 
and  arbitrary  while  it  lasted.  Its  widest  freedom  and 
its  fullest  development  were  not  in  the  quiet  pastoral 
and  agricultural  districts  of  the  coast,  but  in  the  midst 
of  the  whirling  excitements  of  the  famous  mining-camps 
of  '48  and  '49.  The  alcalde  of  the  Sierra  is  the  per- 
fected American  type ;  but  so  rich  was  the  period,  that 
this  forms  but  a  small  part  of  its  institutional  harvest. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CALIFORNIA  CAMPS.— THE  DAYS  OP  '48. 

The  four  preceding  chapters  have  been  devoted  to  a 
study  of  Spanish-American  institutions,  and  their  influ- 
ences on  early  California.  The  remaining  chapters  of 
this  work  deal  with  the  organization  and  government, 
by  citizens  of  the  United  States,  of  large  and  isolated 
mining-camps;  returning  in  some  cases  to  primitive 
forms,  sometimes  using  and  modifying  the  Mexican 
alcaldeship,  sometimes  adopting  methods  suggested  by 
New-England  town-meetings,  but  always  aiming  to 
quell  disorder,  and  protect  property  and  life.  They 
attempt  to  describe  what  manner  of  men  these  miners 
were,  and  with  what  customs,  laws,  and  usages  camp 
and  district  were  ruled.  They  discuss  the  influence 
these  miners  exerted,  directly  and  indirectly,  upon  the 
political  organization  of  California;  and  the  acceptance, 
in  American  jurisprudence,  of  principles  originated  by 
gold-diggers  in  the  folk-moots  of  the  Sierra. 

One  of  the  most  entrancing  chapters  of  this  nine- 
teenth century's  eventful  history  is  that  which  narrates 
the  gold-discovery  of  1848,  the  rush  of  anxious  wealth- 
seekers  to  California,  and  the  rapid  growth  of  new  insti- 
tutional life  among  people  thus  assembled  from  all  parts 
of  the  world.  When  American  pioneers  conquered  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  they  made  it  the  stepping-stone  to 
more  difficult  victories.     The  sous  of  the  men  who  set- 

105 


106  MINING-CAMPS. 

tied  Kentucky  and  Ohio  crossed  the  mighty  river,  and 
took  possession  of  Iowa  and  Missouri:  their  sons,  in 
turn,  have  made  the  term  "  West "  no  longer  applicable 
to  the  great  valley ;  they  have  even  shattered  the  phrase 
into  fragments,  and  so  have  given  us  the  .South-West 
of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  the  North- West  of  Idaho, 
Oregon,  and  the  Puget-sound  basin,  the  Central-West  of 
Colorado,  Utah,  Nevada,  and  California.  The  all-com- 
pelling magnet  which  drew  peaceful  armies  to  these 
wastes  and  mountains  of  the  western  third  of  the  conti- 
nent, there  to  build  great  cities,  there  to  organize  pros- 
perous communities  and-  powerful  States,  was  a  flake  of 
virgin  gold  found  on  a  California  liillside  thirty-six 
years  ago. 

That  was  the  year  of  revolutions  in  Europe ;  of  barri- 
cades in  Paris,  Berlin,  Vienna,  Milan ;  of  Louis  Blanc's 
"  ministry  of  progress,"  and  Louis  Napoleon's  deceitful 
presidency ;  of  students  in  arms,  and  petty  princes  abdi- 
cating in  haste  their  pasteboard  thrones ;  of  liberal  con- 
stitutions, national  assemblies,  and  a  Sclavonic  congress; 
of  Lombardy,  Schleswig-Holstein,  and  Hungary  in  arms, 
the  last,  under  the  leadership  of  Kossuth,  to  make  her 
death-struggle  for  freedom.  On  the  Bourse,  and  in 
Lombard  Street,  the  kings  of  the  financial  world  were 
noting  the  signs  of  coming  storm,  even  as  the  year 
began  ;  but  the  event  of  most  importance  to  the  money- 
markets  of  Europe  occurred  unheralded  before  the 
"  Revolution  of  February."  Let  us  note  the  place  and 
the  manner  of  the  occurrence.  It  was  one  hundred  and 
seventy  miles  east  of  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  it  was  in  the 
grizzly-haunted  mountains  of  an  obscure  and  neglected 
province  only  a  few  months  before  owned  by  Mexico, 
thinly  populated  by  tribes  of  degraded  Indians,  idle 
Spanish-Americans,  musical-tongued  Kanakas,  wander- 


CALIFORNIA  CAMPS.  107 

ing  trappers,  and  a  few  Anglo-.Saxon  farmers  and  specu- 
lators ;  it  was  Jan.  19,  1848,  and  about  a  fortnight  be- 
fore the  actual  signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo,  which  gave  the  United  States  522,955  square 
miles  of  territory,  including  this  obscure  El  Dorado,  for 
the  trifling  sum  of  fifteen  million  dollars.  Some  laborers, 
on  this  California  hillside,  were  digging  a  water-ditch  to 
supply  a  flour-mill  that  was  being  built  by  the  feudal- 
like  lord  of  a  vast  tract  over  which  wild  oats  waved, 
wild  flowers  bloomed,  and  herds  of  antelope  roamed, 
mingling  undisturbed  with  bands  of  cattle  and  horses, 
and  even  venturing  at  times  within  sight  of  the  massive 
oaken  gates  of  the  adobe-built  fort  where  this  active, 
courtly,  enterprising,  and  generous  adventurer  had 
established  his  authority  as  lord  of  "  New  Helvetia."  ^ 

Captain  Sutter,  at  that  important  era  in  early  1848, 
swung  his  malacca  cane,  pulled  his  trim  military  mous- 
tache, gave  crisp  orders  to  his  Indian  alcalde,  his  com- 
mander of  the  troops,  his  general  superintendent,  his 
manager  of  cattle,  and  his  head  farmer;  paid  his  two 
hundred  laborers  with  pieces  of  tin  stamped  with  num- 
bers representing  days'  work,  and  redeemable  at  his 
storehouses;  kept  open  house  for  every  traveller,  ex- 
plorer, or  government  official :  he  was,  in  a  word,  the 
most  vital,  sinewy,  and  picturesque  figure  in  all  Alta 
California,  beside  whose  manliness  the  plotting,  irasci- 
ble, treacherous,  dishonest  governors  who  disgraced  the 


1  Captain  John  A.  Sutter  in  1841  received  from  Governor  Alvarado 
a  grant  of  eleven  leagues  in  the  Sacramento  Valley,  and  built  a  fort 
where  the  city  of  the  same  name  now  stands.  He  was  commissioned 
"  representative  of  the  government,  and  officer  of  justice  on  the  northern 
frontier."  The  comparison  to  the  old  courts  palatinate  is  irresistible. 
He  purchased  from  the  Russians  their  extensive  claims  on  Bodega  Bay, 
and  thus,  perhaps,  saved  the  United  States  from  many  subsequent  diplo- 
matic difficulties. 


108  MINING-CAMPS. 

closing  years  of  Mexican'rnle,  sink  into  utter  insignifi- 
cance. His  title  appeared  unimpeachable,  his  possessions 
secure  under  the  American  flag,  his  colony  enterprise 
well  managed  and  certain  of  success.  But  the  discovery 
of  a  flake  of  gold,  lying  concealed  in  the  red  hillside 
soil  twenty  miles  away,  set  forces  in  operation  that 
blighted  and  destroyed  all  his  plans. 

January  nineteenth,  while  unconscious  Sutter  gov- 
erned his  little  kingdom,  the  workmen  at  Coloma,  hav- 
ing finished  their  ditch,  lifted  the  water-gate ;  and  the 
clear  mountain  torrent  leaped  gurgling  and  foaming 
along  its  new-cut  channel,  uncovering  a  piece  of  virgin 
gold,  —  first  recorded  nugget  of  American  California.^ 
This  precious  lump,  smaller  than  the  first  joint  of  a 
child's  forefinger,  gleamed  in  Marshall's  mill-race,  at- 
tracted human  eyes,  was  tested  in  a  locked  room  by 
roused  and  excited  men,  and  caused  a  rush  that  ended 
Sutter's  multifarious  operations,  bidding  the  hides  rot 
in  his  tanneries,  his  wheat  fall  to  the  earth  ungathered, 
his  herds  wander  untended,  and  perish  at  the  hands  of 
outlaws.  The  fame  of  this  discovery  drew  to  the  spot, 
with  magic  power,  the  population  of  the  whole  terri- 
tory ;  so  that,  a  few  months  later,  but  five  men  were 
left  in  San  Francisco,  ships  swung  sailorless  at  anchor, 
and  soldiers  deserted  their  colors.  All  Alta  California 
was  concentrating  in  the  mines.  Thus  the  memorable 
gold-rush  began. 

Soon  the  news  went  abroad  to  all  the  world.  Piles 
of  California  nuggets  lay  in  the  windows  of  banking- 
houses,  gazed  at  by  thousands.  The  fact  that  in  the 
new  placers  unskilled,  uneducated,  and  penniless  men 
were  able  to  gather  from  fifty  to  five  hundred  dollars 

1  Small  placers  had  been  found  Ijy  Mexicans  near  the  coast  in  1828, 
1833,  and  1838.    See  M.  Castanare's  letter  to  President  of  Mexico,  1}>44. 


CALtFOENIA  CAMPS.  109 

in  gold-dust,  each  day  they  worked,  was  calculated  to 
produce  a  profound  mipression.  Mockers  were  silenced, 
doubters  were  swept  into  the  current.  Before  the  close 
of  the  year,  fifty  thousand  of  the  healthiest  and  most 
energetic  young  men  of  the  nation  were  on  their  way 
to  California.  Meanwhile  the  five  thousand  men  who 
were  fairly  at  work  in  the  mines  in  1848  dug  out  over 
five  million  dollars  in  gold-dust.  Numbers  of  small 
parties  from  Oregon  arrived  before  July,  but  the  vast 
body  of  gold-seekers  known  afterwards  as  the  "Argo- 
nauts "  did  not  reach  the  Pacific  Coast  until  early  in  |P|| 
1849.  The  organization  of  the  smaller  mining-com- 
munities of  1848  must  be  considered  before  we  can 
discuss  the  more  complex  elements  of  later  camps. 

When,  early  in  1848,  mining  began  at  Coloma,  near 
Sutter's  Mill,  Captain  Sutter  himself  had  alcalde  pow- 
ers over  the  region.  That  autumn  Mr.  Belt  was  elected 
alcalde  at  Stockton.  The  two  thousand  Americans  who 
were  living  in  California  in  February,  1848,  were  nearly 
all  in  the  mines  before  the  end  of  June ;  and  most  of 
them  knew  what  an  alcalde  was,  knew  that  they  had 
no  legal  right  to  elect  any  other  officer,  and  knew  that 
Colonel  Mason,  the  de  facto  governor,  was  the  oi^f  :^;, 
other  authority.  But  there  was  no  general  acceptanoif^^^^ 
of  Sutter  as  alcalde.  Some  of  the  very  first  min 
attempted  to  own,  hold,  control,  and  rent  to  othei 
large  and  valuable  mineral-bearing  tract.  After  pai 
rent  for  a  short  time,  the  new-comers,  who  were  in  the 
majority,  began  to  equalize  matters,  and  adopt  laws 
respecting  the  size  of  "  claims."  Nothing  in  the  early 
history  of  these  camps  is  more  evident  than  the  unpre- 
meditated and  unsystematic  nature  of  their  first  pro- 
ceedings. Officers  were  never  elected  until  they  were 
needed  to  give  an  immediate  decision.     And,  as  we  have 


110  MINDTG-CAMPS. 

said,  local  customs  in  regard  to  the  "  amount  of  ground 
a  man  could  mine  "  took  form  before  officers  were  form- 
ally chosen.  /  Every  one  knew  that  most  of  the  land 
on  which  they  worked  was  government  land :  the  use  of 
it  belonged  to  all  alike  until  such  time  as  the  govern- 
ment made  other  regulations.  Equality  of  ownership 
was  the  only  logical  conclusion.  Here,  then,  the  laws 
of  the  camp  had  their  beginning.  Long  before  lawless- 
ness and  trouble  with  foreigners  arose,  long  before  the 
first  California  gold  had  reached  New  York,  "  claims  " 
of  a  definite  size  were  being  measured  out  in  the  mining- 
camps  for  each  gold-seeker.  The  ownership  of  land 
was  the  beginning  of  organization ;  its  ownership  in 
equal  parts  is  significant  of  the  form  of  society  that 
prevailed,  for  an  unconscious  socialism  it  certainly  was. 
The  mines  put  all  men  for  once  upon  a  level.  Clothes, 
money,  manners,  family  connections,  letters  of  intro- 
duction, never  before  counted  for  so  little.  The  whole 
community  was  substantially  given  an  even  start  in  the 
race.  Gold  was  so  abundant,  and  its  sources  seemed 
for  a  time  so  inexhaustible,  that  the  aggrandizing  power 
of  wealth  was  momentarily  annihilated.  Social  and 
financial  inequalities  between  man  and  man  were  to- 
gether swept  out  of  sight.  Each  stranger  was  wel- 
comed, told  to  take  a  pan  and  pick,  and  go  to  work  for  ' 
himself.  The  richest  miner  in  the  camp  was  seldom  able 
to  hire  a  servant ;  those  who  had  formerly  been  glad  to 
sei've  others  were  digging  in  their  own  claims.  The  ^ 
veriest  greenhorn  was  as  likely  to  uncover  the  richest 
mine  on  the  gulch  as  was  the  wisest  of  ex-professors 
of  geology ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  best  claim  on 
the  river  might  suddenly  "  give  out,"  and  never  again 
yield  a  dollar.  The  poorest  man  in  camp  could  have  a 
handful  of  gold-dust  for  the  asking  from  a  more  sue- 


1 


CALIFORNIA  CAMPS.  Ill 

cessful  neighbor,  to  give  him  another  start,  and  help 
him  "  hunt  for  better  luck."  No  one  was  ever  allowed 
to  suffer:  the  treasure-vaults  of  the  Sierra  were  too 
near,  and  seemingly  too  exhaustless. 

To  a  little  camp  of  1848  (so  an  old  miner  writes  me) 
a  lad  of  sixteen  came  one  day,  footsore,  weary,  hungry, 
and  penniless.  There  were  thirty  robust  and  cheerful 
miners  at  work  in  the  ravine ;  and  the  lad  sat  on  the 
bank,  watching  thenf  a  while  in  silence,  his  face  telling 
the  sad  story  of  his  fortunes.  At  last  one  stalwart 
miner  spoke  to  his  fellows,  saying,  — 

"  Boys,  I'll  work  an  hour  for  that  chap  if  you  will." 

At  the  end  of  the  hour  a  hundred  dollars'  worth  of 
gold-dust  was  laid  in  the  youth's  handkerchief.  The 
miners  made  out  a  list  of  tools  and  necessaries. 

"  You  go,"  they  said,  "  and  buy  these,  and  come  back. 
We'll  have  a  good  claim  staked  out  for  you.  Then 
you've  got  to  paddle  for  yourself."  Thus  genuine  and 
unconventional  was  the  hospitality  of  the  mining-camp. 

The  early  camps  of  California  did  more  than  merely 
to  destroy  all  fictitious  social  standards.  They  began 
at  once  to  create  new  bonds  of  human  fellowship.  The 
most  interesting  of  these  was  the  social  and  spiritual 
significance  given  to  the  partnership  idea.  It  soor; 
became  almost  as  sacred  as  the  marriage-bond.  Th  : 
exigencies  of  the  work  of  mining-claims  required  tw 
or  three  persons  to  labor  together  if  they  would  utilize 
their  strength  to  the  best  advantage.  '"The  legal  con 
tract  of  partnership,  common  in  settled  communities, 
became,  under  these  circumstances,  the  brother-like  tie 
of  "jt?arc?"-nership,  sacred  by  camp-custom,  protected 
by  camp-law;  and  its  few  infringements  were  treated 
as  crimes  against  every  miner.  Two  men  who  lived 
together,  slept  together,  took  turns  cooking,  and  wash- 


112  MINING-CAMPS. 

ing  their  clothes,  worked  side  by  side  in  dripping  claims, 
and  made  equal  division  of  returns,  were  rightly  felt  to 
have  entered  into  relationships  other  than  commercial. 

There  soon  were  larger  associations  to  work  deep 
claims,  or  turn  the  channels  of  rivers ;  but  each  such 
association  came  into  existence  when  it  was  needed, 
not  a  moment  sooner.  Nowhere  in  the  mines  was 
there  any  planning  ahead:  men  were  too  busy,  and 
time  too  precious,  for  that.  The  result  was  a  degree 
and  quality  of  unhampered,  untroubled  freedom,  to 
which  it  is  hard  to  find  an  historic  parallel.  Society, 
reduced  to  its  original  atoms,  began  to  shape  itself 
anew. 

One  of  the  elements  in  early  camp-life  consisted  of 
"companies,"  or  groups  of  associates  who  had  come 
from  the  same  place,  or  had  travelled  together  for 
mutual  comfort  and  protection.  Many  of  these  com- 
panies had  organized,  and  made  rules  for  their  own 
government,  before  they  left  their  homes.  Some  were 
from  the  coast-region,  some  from  Oregon ;  and  in  1849 
many  such  parties  arrived  across  the  plains,  or  by  sea. 
Sometimes  these  companies  formed  separate  camps, 
sometimes  only  a  group  in  a  larger  camp,  but  usually 
the  bond  of  unity  was  preserved.  The  Oregonians 
"hung  together"  remarkably  well,  and  exercised  the 
best  of  influence.  Some  of  them  had  helped  to  organ- 
ize local  government  and  a  legislative  body  among  the 
pioneer  Americans  in  the  Willamette  Valley.  Peter 
Burnett,  who  became  the  first  governor  of  California, 
was  one  of  the  earliest  to  start  from  Oregon,  where  he 
had  been  a  poor  and  hard-working  farmer.  He  organ- 
ized a  large  company  among  his  neighbors,  was  chosen 
captain,  and  guided  them  to  the  mines. 

Ryan,  in  his  "  Adventures  in  California,"  gives  the 


CALIFORNIA  CAMPS.  113 

rules  of  a  small  mining-company  of  whom  he  was  one. 
Slightly  abbreviated,  they  read  as  follows :  — 

"  (1)  That  we  shall  bear  an  equal  share  in  all  expenses, 

"  (2)  That  no  man  shall  be  allowed  to  leave  the  company  with- 
out general  consent  till  we  reach  th©  mines. 

"  (3)  That  any  one  leaving  with  our  consent  shall  have  back  his 
original  investment. 

"  (4)  That  we  work  together  in  the  mines,  9,nd  use  our  tools  in 
common. 

"  (5)  That  each  man  shall  retain  all  the  gold  he  finds,  but  must 
contribute  an  equal  portion  of  our  da,ily  expenses, 

"  (6)  That  we  stand  by  each  other, 

"  (7)  That  each  man  shall  m  turn  cook,  and  do  his  share  of 
the  drudgery. 

"  (8)  That  any  one  guilty  of  stealing  shall  be  expelled  from 
tent  and  claim,  with  such  other  punishment  as  a  majority  of  our 
company  decide  upon. 

"  (9)  That  no  sick  comrade  be  abandoned." 

These  rules,  we  observe,  do  not  provide  for  an  appeal 
to  the  general  body  of  miners,  nor  do  they  recognize 
any  higher  court  than  the  law  of  the  majority  of  the 
company.  It  is  the  idea  of  family  rule  and  family  jus- 
tice, as  opposed  to  tribal  authority  or  to  the  supremacy 
of  the  whole  body  of  assembled  freemen.  But  this 
tendency  played  little  part  in  actual  mining-life,  though 
a  few  cases  occurred  where  men  were  punished  by  their 
associates,  no  others  interfering,  not  through  indiffer- 
ence so  much  as  because  of  acquiescence.  The  rule 
that  "  each  man  shall  cook  in  turn  "  was  probably  sup- 
plemented by  the  unwritten  proviso,  still  dear  to  West* 
ern  camp-life,  that  "  no  man  shall  grumble  at  the  cook's 
failures,  under  penalty  of  cooking  for  twice  the  usual 
period." 

When  we  compare  the  rules  of  different  companies 
organized   to   go   to   the  mines,  we  find  considerable 


114  MINING-CAIVIPS. 

variation.  Quite  a  number  provided  for  an  equal  divis- 
ion of  all  the  gold  found.  This  was  certainly  a  spirit 
that  many  tendencies  of  camp-life  developed,  but  there 
were  opposing  forces  of  much  more  powerful  nature. 
That  chiefly  which  in  the  "flush  times"  prevented 
any  general  acceptance  of  the  idea  of  equal  division  of 
profits  among  all  the  miners  of  a  group,  or  even  of  a 
camp,  was  the  fact  that  men  like  to  take  risks,  run 
chances,  and  have  the  intoxicating  excitement  of  sud- 
den gains.  The  miners  of  '48  believed  with  all  their 
hearts  that  there  was  gold  enough  for  all ;  that  the 
turn  of  the  poorest  miner  would  come ;  but  that,  as 
they  often  said,  "  gold  belongs  to  the  finder,  and  to  no 
one  else." 

Several  of  these  companies  formed  to  go  to  the  mines 
provided  for  disbandment  at  the  end  of  six  months* 
labor.  Quite  a  number  forbade  their  members  to  use 
ardent  spirits,  except  as  medicine.  Some  arranged  for 
a  certain  percentage  of  each  member's  gains  to  be  paid 
over  to  the  captain  in  trust  for  sick  or  unfortunate 
comrades.  But  enough  has  been  said  to  give  a  general 
idea  of  their  organization. 

As  soon  as  the  great  value  of  the  mines  was  known, 
and  crowds  of  persons  began  to  hasten  tliither,  the 
necessity  for  having  "  wholesome  regulations  and  laws, 
with  a  view  to  the  security  of  personal  property  and  the 
prevention  of  disputes  among  those  engaged  in  mining," 
began  to  present  itself  to  the  military  authorities  at 
Monterey.  There  were  no  disturbances  in  the  mines,- 
however :  the  only  crimes  reported  were  from  the  coast- 
region.  But  it  was  suggested  that  the  entire  mineral 
belt  should  be  laid  off  in  lots,  by  a  public  land-agent 
and  a  surveyor,  and  that  they  should  then,  under  proper 
regulations,  allow  miners  to  occupy  and  work  these  lots, 


THE  DAYS   OF   '48.  115 

requiring  them  to  pay  a  fee,  or  ground-rent,  to  the  gov- 
ernment. While  this  was  under  consideration,  so  many 
soldiers  deserted,  that  the  governor  threatened  to  con- 
centrate the  remaining  troops  in  the  mining-districts, 
and  take  military  possession.  One  company,  stationed 
at  Sonora,  lost  thirty-seven  men  out  of  sixty. 

In  July,  1848,  there  were  about  two  hundred  men  at 
work  on  the  American  Fork,  at  "  Mormon  Diggings,'* 
twenty-five  miles  from  Sutter's  Fort.  Colonel  Mason 
and  Lieutenant  (now  General)  W.  T.  Sherman  were 
making  a  tour  of  the  mines ;  and  the  first  official  report 
about  that  region  is  dated  at  Monterey,  Aug.  17,  im- 
mediately after  their  return.  Along  the  whole  route, 
houses  were  vacant,  and  farms  going  to  waste.  At 
the  lower  mines,  the  hillsides  were  strewn  with  can- 
vas tents  and  bush  arbors.  Some  of  the  miners  used 
tin  pans,  some  used  closely  woven  Indian  baskets;  but 
the  greater  part  had  a  rude  machine  known  as  the 
cradle.  This  required  four  men  to  work  it  properly. 
A  party  thus  employed  averaged  one  hundred  dollars 
a  day.  Mining-camps  were  fairly  established  on  the 
American  Fork,  the  South  Fork,  the  Yuba,  Feather,  and 
Bear  Rivers,  and  on  various  tributaries.  Colonel  Mason 
was  informed  that  about  four  thousand  men  were  at 
work  in  the  entire  gold-region.  The  labor  was  very 
hard,  but  all  seemed  prosperous.  In  many  camps,  two 
ounces  was  considered  but  an  ordinary  yield  for  a  day's 
work.  A  small,  shallow  rock-channel,  a  hundred  yards 
long  and  four  feet  wide,  was  pointed  out,  where  two  men 
had  obtained  seventeen  thousand  dollars  in  seven  days. 
From  another  small  ravine,  twelve  thousand  dollars  had 
been  taken.  The  principal  store  at  Sutter's  Fort  re- 
ceived, in  payment  for  goods  sold  in  nine  weeks,  some 
thirty-six  thousand  dollars  in  gold-dust.     A  company 


116  MINING-CAMPS. 

of  seven  miners  hired  fifty  Indian  helpers  to  carry 
gravel  to  the  "  cradles,"  worked  seven  weeks,  and  ob- 
tained two  hundred  and  seventy-three  pounds  of  pure 
gold ;  they  paid  off  the  Indians,  and  each  of  the  seven 
partners  had  about  thirty-seven  pounds  for  his  share.  A 
private  soldier  who  was  given  twenty  days'  furlough 
went  to  the  mines,  where  in  one  week  he  made  fifteen 
hundred  dollars,  with  which  he  returned  and  reported 
himself  for  duty.  The  cash  value  of  gold  in  the  mines 
was  twelve  dollars  per  ounce ;  in  trade,  sixteen  dollars. 

These  instances  are  from  Colonel  Mason's  report  to 
the  Adjutant-General.  He  also  relates  an  occurrence 
to  which  he  was  eye-witness.  At  Weber's  brush-built 
store,  a  man  picked  up  a  box  of  seidlitz-powders,  and 
asked  its  price ;  he  was  told  that  it  only  cost  fifty  cents, 
but  was  not  for  sale ;  he  offered  an  ounce  of  gold,  and 
was  refused ;  but,  promptly  raising  his  offer  to  an  ounce 
and  a  half,  he  bore  off  the  desired  article  in  triumph. 

Colonel  Mason  gives  the  most  decided  testimony  as  to 
the  good  behavior  of  the  community.  Crimes  were  very 
infrequent :  peace  and  order  prevailed.  He  naively  ex- 
presses his  surprise  that  no  thefts  or  robberies  had 
been  committed  in  the  gold-district,  although  every 
one  lived  in  tents,  bush  houses,  or  in  the  open  air, 
and  frequently  had  about  their  persons  thousands  of 
dollars'  worth  of  gold.  He  makes  no  allusion  what- 
ever to  any  elected  officers  in  the  various  camps. 

It  was  a  matter  of  serious  reflection  to  him,  how  the 
rights  of  the  government  in  the  land  could  best  be 
secured.  Considering  the  character  of  the  people  en- 
gaged, he  resolved  not  to  interfere.  He  suggested  two 
plans :  one,  to  grant  licenses  to  work  tracts  of  ground 
of  a  hundred  yards  square,  at  rents  of  from  a  hundred 
dollars  to  a  thousand  dollars  per  year,  at  the  discretion 


THE  DAYS  OF   '48.  117 

of  an  appointed  superintendent;  the  other,  to  survey 
the  district,  and  sell  to  the  highest  bidder,  in  tracts  of 
twenty  or  forty  acres.  The  latter  plan  he  preferred, 
but  no  steps  were  ever  taken  to  carry  either  of  them 
into  execution.  In  a  later  letter,  he  proposed  levying 
a  percentage  on  the  gold  found. 

In  August,  Indian  troubles  led  to  the  establishment 
of  a  small  military  post  in  the  Sacramento  region ;  but 
it  exercised  no  supervision  or  authority  over  the  camps 
of  the  miners,  though  it  was  situated  on  Bear  River, 
near  some  of  the  richest  placers.  The  next  year  troops 
were  sent  to  Taylor's  Ferry,  on  the  Stanislaus,  partly 
to  quell  Indian  difficulties,  and  partly  to  prevent  an 
apprehended  collision  between  the  Americans  and  the 
foreigners  along  the  Tuolumne;  but  "the  reports  of 
hostilities  had  been  greatly  exaggerated."  Throughout 
the  various  letters,  proclamations,  and  official  actions  of 
the  de  facto  governor  of  California  in  1848,  nothing  is 
more  evident  than  the  complete  way  in  which  the 
mining  communities  were  left  to  their  own  devices. 
Even  General  Riley  in  his  visit,  a  year  after  Colonel 
Mason's,  told  the  miners  that  "all  questions  touching 
the  temporary  right  of  individuals  to  work  in  particular 
localities  of  which  they  were  in  possession,  should  be 
left  to  the  decision  of  the  local  authorities,"  meaning 
alcaldes  and  other  officers  by  that  time  installed  in 
many  camps. 

Letters  from  pioneers,  and  all  printed  accounts,  agree 
in  the  general  features  of  mining-life  in  the  later  months 
of  the  summer  of  1848.  Scattered  over  a  large  terri- 
tory, the  men  of  the  various  camps  dwelt  together  in 
peace  and  good-fellowship,  without*  any  representatives 
of  the  United-States  Government  in  their  midst.  Legal 
forms  and  judicial  machinery  were  as  nearly  non-exist- 


118  MINING-CAMPS. 

ent  as  it  is  possible  to  imagine  in  a  civilized  country. 
The  "social-contract"  ideas  of  Rousseau  and  his  fol- 
lowers seemed  to  have  suddenly  found  a  practical  ex- 
pression. The  unwritten,  unformulated  law  that  ruled 
each  camp  was  the  instinct  of  healthy  humanity  to  mete 
out  equal  justice  to  all.  There  was  no  theft,  and  no 
disorder ;  few  troublesome  disputes  occurred  about 
oundaries  and  water-rights.  The  miners  assembled  to 
discuss  in  open  meeting  the  size  of  claims  that  should 
be  allowed,  and  the  will  of  the  majority  was  cheerfully 
accepted  by  the  entire  camp.  The  size,  however,  varied 
materially :  most  of  the  early  camps  thought  that  ten 
feet  square  was  quite  enough,  or,  in  some  cases,  ten  feet 
in  width  on  the  stream,  extending  from  the  base  of  the 
ravine  to  the  centre  of  the  channel ;  fifteen  feet  square, 
twenty  feet  square,  and  more,  were  allowed  in  later 
camps.  Ardent  prospectors  used  to  tell  stories  of  new- 
found placers  "where  four  by  four  was  enough  for  a 
claim,"  but  no  camp  ever  adopted  so  small  a  standard. 

Definite  bounds  for  the  separate  camps  that  after- 
wards became  mining-districts  did  not  at  first  exist. 
No  surveyors  went  out  from  the  camp  to  mark  its  sub- 
ject territory.  The  district  grew  simply  and  naturally 
about  the  most  convenient  assembly-place,  gulch,  or 
camp;  so  that,  when  fully  organized,  it  conformed  to 
purely  physical  boundaries.  A  relief-map  of  the  Sierra 
region,  with  all  the  deposits  of  auriferoils  gravel  accessi- 
ble to  the  rude  appliances  of  the  early  miners  marked 
in  yellow,  would  show,  at  a  glance,  how  imperious  the 
physical  reasons  were.  One  district  must,  by  reason  of 
its  position,  include  the  half-dozen  camps  of  a  circular 
valley  girt  round  about  with  rocky  peaks;  another  must 
extend  itself  along  a  narrow  ravine,  and  be  five  miles 
long  and  hardly  an  eighth  of  a  mile  in  width. 


THE  DAYS  OF   '48.  119 

The  miners  needed  no  criminal  code.  It  is  simply  and 
literally  true,  that  there  was  a  short  time  in  California, 
in  1848,  when  crime  was  almost  absolutely  unknown, 
when  pounds  and  pints  of  gold  were  left  unguarded  in 
tents  and  cabins,  or  thrown  down  on  the  hillside,  or 
handed  about  through  a  crowd  for  inspection.  An  old 
pioneer  writes  me,  that  "in  1848  a  man  could  go  into  a 
miner's  cabin,  cut  a  slice  of  bacon,  cook  a  meal,  roll  up 
in  a  blanket,  and  go  to  sleep,  certain  to  be  welcomed 
kindly  when  the  owner  returned."  Men  have  told  me 
that  they  have  known  as  much  as  a  washbasin-full  of 
gold-dust  to  be  left  on  the  table,  in  an  open  tent,  while 
the  owners  were  at  work  in  their  claim  a  mile  distant. 
Of  course  this  condition  of  affairs  was  partly  due  to  the 
ease  of  acquiring  gold.  Men,  in  some  cases,  pulled  up 
bunches  of  grass  from  the  gulches  and  hillsides,  shaking 
them  into  buckets,  thus  obtaining  many  pounds  of  gold; 
one  miner  gathered  sixteen  thousand  dollars  thus  in 
five  weeks  of  work.  Another  miner  "  cleaned  up " 
eighteen  thousand  dollars  in  one  day's  labor  with  pan 
and  pick.  Certainly  it  was  easier  to  earn  money  than 
to  steal  it,  but  it  was  infinitely  safer  also.  In  later  days, 
for  a  man  to  be  caught  sluice-robbing  was  to  sign  his 
own  death-warrant ;  with  the  miners  of  '48,  whipping, 
banishment,  or  hanging  was  likely  enough  to  have  been 
inflicted  upon  the  robber  of  claim  or  tent.  For  the 
criminality  of  theft  was  brought  squarely  home  to  each 
man's  conscience,  and  to  the  entire  community.  Con- 
sidering all  the  circumstances,  a  man  capable  of  steal- 
ing from  his  comrades  in  these  busy,  friendly  camps, 
was  hopelessly  hardened,  was  capable  of  all  the  crimes 
of  the  Decalogue. 

Throughout  this  Arcadian  era,  there  was  not  only  no 
theft,  but  the  bonds  of  fellowship  were  strong  and  sin- 


120  MINING-CAMPS. 

cere  among  all  the  miners  of  the  camps.  In  some  dis- 
tricts where  the  American  element  kept  strongly  in  the 
majority,  the  entire  "flush  period"  from  1849  to  1853 
was  marked  by  such  unity.  But  in  most  camps  disturb- 
ances increased ;  human  leeches  and  parasites  lowered 
^-  the  healthy  tone  of  the  community ;  and  the  miners 
drew  farther  apart  than  in  the  days  when  their  first 
tents  were  pitched  beneath  the  lofty  Sierra  pines,  in 
clumps  of  chapparal  and  manzinita. 

The  miners  themselves  noticed  how  rapidly  disturb- 
ances increased  in  number  a  few  years  later.  "  We 
needed  no  law,"  writes  an  old  pioneer,  "until  the  law- 
yers came ; "  and  this  idea  is  repeated  in  a  thousand 
forms.  "  There  were  few  crimes,"  says  one  correspond- 
ent, "  until  the  courts  with  their  delays  and  technicali- 
ties took  the  place  of  miners'  law."  This  is,  in  truth, 
the  persistent  prejudice  against  lawyers  that  has  existed 
among  frontiersmen  (nor  among  them  alone),  in  every 
age  of  the  world.  Poetry  and  fiction  have  always  been 
severe  upon  the  "cozening,  cheating,  subtle-tongued 
lawyers."  Dr.  Johnson,  as  a  withering  and  overwhelm- 
ing assault,  once  said  of  an  opponent,  "Although  I 
should  be  sorry  to  calumniate  any  man,  yet,  sir,  I  be- 
lieve the  gentleman  in  question  to  be  an  attorney." 
But  it  is  pioneers  who  give  the  most  frank  expression 
of  this  time-honored  opinion.  And,  although  the  fact  is 
not  generally  known,  there  was  a  time  when  one-half  of 
the  world  tried,  but  of  course  unsuccessfully,  to  live 
without  any  lawyers.  When  Spain  established  her  colo- 
nies, every  one  of  them  petitioned  the  king,  in  the  most 
earnest  and  anxious  terms,  to  allow  no  lawyers  to  sail 
for  America ;  because  they  desired  to  live  in  peace  and 
prosperity,  freed  from  the  malice  of  men  and  the  malign 
presence  of  attorneys.     As  loyal  Catholic  subjects  they 


THE  DAYS   OP   '48.  121 

prayed  to  be  protected  from  the  whole  "  lean  and  ras- 
cally "  legal  fraternity.  The  gallant  soldier  of  fortune, 
Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  wrote  to  the  king,  saying,  — 

"  One  thing  I  supplicate  your  majesty :  that  you  will  give  orders, 
under  a  great  penalty,  that  no  bachelors  of  law  should  be  allowed 
to  come  here ;  for  not  only  are  they  bad  themselves,  but  they  also 
make  and  contrive  a  thousand  iniquities."  ^ 

Pioneers  of.  New  Spain,  and  pioneers  of  golden  Cali- 
fornia, were  equally  in  earnest  in  their  denunciation  of 
lawyers,  and  were  equally  at  fault  in  the  analysis  by 
which  they  reached  such  conclusions.  In  views  of  this 
sort,  we  have  a  curious  confusion  of  ideas,  a  curious 
substitution  of  effect  for  cause.  The  conditions  of  soci- 
ety do  not  change  because  of  the  lawyer's  arrival :  he 
comes  because  the  conditions  of  society  are  already 
changing,  and  there  is,  or  is  about  to  be,  a  demand  for 
his  labor.  Though  we  grant  all  that  the  pioneers  say 
respecting  the  Arcadian  simplicity,  and  total  freedom 
from  difficulties,  of  the  camps  of  the  earlier  gold-period, 
we  must  not  conclude  that  this  absence  of  lawlessness 
was  necessarily  due  to  the  absence  of  lawyers.  There 
were  plenty  of  them,  working  as  quiet  citizens  in  their 
claim-ditches,  and  waiting  until  there  was  a  demand  for 
attorneys  and  the  machinery  of  courts.  How  could 
there  be  much  lawlessness  where,  so  few  temptations  to 
crime,  and  so  few  opportunities  for  its  commission,  ex- 
isted ?  Men  could  quarrel,  could  steal,  could  kill  each 
other;  but  nine  out  of  ten  of  the  misdemeanors  and 
crimes  that  appear  in  the  docket  of  an  ordinary  crimi- 
nal court  were  impossible  in  the  mining-camps,  while 
ninety-nine  hundredths  of  the  ordinary  civil  cases  were 
equally  out  of  the  question.     Land-titles  all  similar, 

I  Helps's  Spanish  Conquest,  p.  338;  note,  Carta  el  Rey,  Jan.  20, 1513. 


122  MINING-CAMPS. 

transfers  verbal,  commercial  transactions  for  cash,  bor- 
rowing and  lending  simply  a  matter  between  individ- 
uals —  the  best  of  lawyers  would  have  starved  in  such 
a  community.  As  society  grew  more  complex,  tempta- 
tions and  opportunities  increased ;  and  by  the  time  the 
machinery  of  a  State  was  set  in  operation,  California 
presented,  as  regards  land-titles,  mining-cases,  and  a 
thousand  other  subjects,  so  many  legal  complications, 
that  for  a  time  it  became  the  paradise  of  lawyers. 

By  the  close  of  1848,  mining  was  actually  in  progress 
for  a  distance  of  two  hundred  miles  along  the  axis  of  the 
Sierra.  Colonel  Reading  was  at  work  with  his  Indians 
on  Clear  Creek,  Shasta  County ;  and  General  John  Bid- 
well,  in  like  manner,  on  Feather  River.  When  winter 
came,  most  of  the  miners  returned  to  their  homes  in  the 
valleys,  in  San  Josd,  Monterey,  Sonoma,  or  San  Fran- 
cisco. Before  the  summer  of  1849,  the  pioneers  of  1848 
had  been  overwhelmed  and  lost  in  the  gold-rush  of  that 
eventful  year.  The  peace  and  freedom  of  the  early 
camps  gave  way  to  a  new  order  of  things ;  and,  out  of 
chaos  and  confusion,  the  organizing  faculty  of  the  race 
began  to  bring  settled  government.  But  so  marked,  so 
characteristic,  so  different  from  all  later  types  of  miners, 
was  the  pioneer  of  1848,  that  it  has  even  been  said,  that 
with  that  year  "  all  that  was  staid  and  primitive  in  or 
about  the  mines  of  California  vanished ;  with  it  ended 
the  old  civilization  and  the  old  scenes."  ^  This,  however, 
is  only  true  from  the  stand-point  of  a  general  observer : 
from  the  institutional  stand-point,  the  camp-organizations 
of  1849-53  had  their  beginnings  in  the  camp-organiza- 
tions of  1848. 

1  Henry  de  Groot:  Recollections  of  California  Mining-life.  Pam- 
phlet, pp.  IG.    San  Francisco,  1884. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  EARLIEST  MINING-COURTS,  AND  THEIR  INFLUENCE 
ON  STATE  LIFE. 

The  general  features  of  the  organization  of  the  "min- 
ing-courts," that  were  in  many  cases  found  necessary 
towards  the  close  of  1848,  can  easily  be  described. 
There  were  no  permanent  officers,  except  where  the 
alcalde  plan  was  adopted,  as  in  instances  hereafter 
described ;  neither  were  there  any  written  laws,  or 
any  records  of  proceedings.  Any  one  who  desired 
could  call  a  meeting.  A  person  who  thought  himself 
wronged  would  tell  his  friends,  and  they  would  tell 
others,  till  the  miners  of  the  region  would  assemble  if 
they  thought  the  cause  sufficient;  but,  if  not,  would 
ignore  the  call.  Some  important  meetings  grew  out  of 
informal  discussions,  among  groups  of  miners,  as  to  the 
best  regulations  for  mutual  benefit  and  protection.  As 
soon  as  "mining-districts,"  so  called,  began  to  be  laid 
out,  they  assumed  exceedingly  definite  boundaries  as 
regarded  the  actual  gold-bearing  territory,  but  were 
very  indefinite  regarding  size  and  shape.  Each  district 
included  certain  gulches,  ran  to  the  top  of  certain 
divides,  took  in  certain  flats  and  ridges,  and  would 
have  presented  a  very  irregular  appearance  on  a  map. 
The  district  might  include  several  camps,  or  but  one, 
according  to  convenience.  The  term  "  camp "  is  prop- 
erly used  to  express  the  nucleus  of  the  district,  the 

123 


124  MINING-CAMPS. 

tent  town  to  which  the  miners  returned  at  night.  The 
discovery  of  new  mines  might  at  any  time  create  new 
camps,  but  not  necessarily  new  districts,  until  its  miners 
in  camp  assembled  made  new  laws,  and  separated  them- 
selves from  the  jurisdiction  of  their  former  laws. 

At  the  first  meeting  called  to  organize  a  camp  in 
a  recently  discovered  mineral  belt,  the  boundaries  of 
a  district  were  drawn  so  as  to  include  not  only  the 
claims  of  all  the  miners  present,  but  also  all  the  un- 
claimed ground  that  seemed  easy  of  access,  and  likely 
to  be  valuable.  If,  however,  the  district  proved  too 
large  for  convenience  as  a  political  unit,  the  dissatisfied 
miners  would  post  up  notices  in  several  places,  and  call 
a  meeting  of  those  who  wished  for  a  division  of  terri- 
tory, and  a  new  district.  If  a  majority  favored  such 
action,  the  district  was  set  apart  and  named.  The  old 
district  was  not  consulted  on  the  subject,  but  received 
a  verbal  notice  of  the  new  organization.  Local  condi- 
tions, making  different  regulations  regarding  claims  de- 
sirable, were  the  chief  causes  of  such  separations.  In 
most  of  these  earlier  cases,  district  and  camp  were 
one  and  the  same :  the  camp  was  the  unit.  Disagree- 
ments between  two  camps,  as  camps,  were  never  heard 
of.  Cases  of  lesser  camps  uniting  themselves  for  gov- 
erning purposes  with  larger  ones  were  of  later  occur- 
rence. 

There  were  no  county  lines  to  consider,  for  this  was 
before  the  organization  of  the  State.  A  number  of 
districts  were  therefore  laid  out,  through  which  county 
lines  were  discovered  to  pass  when  surveyed  a  few 
years  later;  but  they  retained  their  organization  as 
separate  political  units.  There  are  in  northern  Cali- 
fornia, at  the  present  time,  several  mining-districts  that 
include   within   their   boundaries   territory   under  the 


THE  EARLIEST  MTKEKG-COURTS.  125 

jurisdiction  of  two  counties.  The  State  of  Nevada,  in 
its  laws  of  1866,  ordained  that  previously  created  dis- 
tricts, through  which  county  lines  passed,  should  be 
allowed  to  retain  their  autonomy,  and  continue  to  enact 
local  laws.  In  facts  like  these  we  find  evidence  of  the 
institutional  nature  of  the  early  camps,  or  districts, 
which  thus  created  a  local  government  area  long  before 
counties  were  established,  and  were  able,  when  they 
chose,  to  maintain  it  intact.  The  decay  of  placer-min- 
ing was  perhaps  the  only  thing  that  prevented  the  later 
adoption  of  districts  as  universal  divisions  of  the  town- 
ship, or  rather  as  areas  of  local  authority  that  should 
disregard  township  and  county  lines  much  as  English 
parishes,  unions,  school  districts,  and  various  local  gov- 
ernment areas,  intersect  and  overlap  at  the  present 
time.^ 

The  "  mining-court "  of  the  camp,  in  its  earliest  form, 
was  simply  the  assembly  of  the  freemen  in  open  coun- 
cil. All  who  swung  a  pick,  all  who  held  a  claim,  boys 
of  sixteen  and  men  of  sixty,  took  part  in  its  delibera- 
tions. It  was  the  folk-moot  of  our  Germanic  ancestors. 
If  the  citizens  had  been  summoned  to  try  an  important 
case,  they  elected  a  presiding  officer  and  a  judge,  impan- 
elled a  jury  of  six  or  twelve  persons,  summoned  wit- 
nesses, and  proceeded  to  trial  forthwith.  Sometimes 
there  was  no  jury ;  and  the  case  was  submitted  to  the 
assemblage  without  argument,  and  irrevocably  decided 
viva  voce.  Had  A  trespassed  on  B's  claim?  Was  C's 
possessory  right  forfeited  by  absence,  or  neglect  to 
work?  and  could  D  assume  it,  or  was  D  a  "claim- 
jumper"?  Such  were  the  questions  usually  brought 
before  the  "folk-moots"  of  the  Sierra.     Changes  and 

1  See  Local  Government,  Chalmers,  chap,  ii.,  English  Citizen  Series, 
Macmillan  &  Co.,  1883. 


126  MINING-CAMPS. 

developments  in  this  method  of  procedure  occurred 
a  j^ear  or  two  later,  but  the  earlier  camps  seized  upon 
the  "  folk-moot "  plan  with  a  true  race-instinct. 

Two  things  there  were,  that  no  camp-assemblage  ever 
attempted  to  regulate:  no  mining-court  ever  collected 
debts  either  for  or  against  any  individual,  nor  did  it 
ever  take  cognizance  of  minor  personal  difficulties.  As 
regards  the  first  of  these,  the  miners  felt  and  said  that 
it  was  disgraceful  to  dun  a  man  for  money.  They  held 
that  honor  between  men,  and  the  strength  of  social 
and  business  relations,  is  a  far  better  protection  to  the 
lender  than  bond  of  Shylock  and  execution  of  sheriff. 
In  one  case,  in  one  of  the  camps  of  '48,  a  miner,  dunned 
for  a  small  debt  at  an  unseasonable  hour  of  the  night, 
took  a  lantern,  went  to  his  claim,  washed  out  more 
than  sufficient,  tied  it  up  in  a  shot- bag,  and,  return- 
ing to  the  tent,  flung  it  in  his  creditor's  face  with 
all  the  force  of  a  sinewy  arm.  Men  had  to  settle  their 
financial  affairs  and  their  petty  quarrels  among  them- 
selves :  that  was  mining-camp  doctrine.  Of  course 
friends  would  interfere  to  separate  drunken  men,  or  to 
prevent  a  fight:  but  the  camp  as  an  organization  set 
out  to  protect  life  and  property,  not  to  meddle  with 
what  seemed  trivialities;  so  it  winked  at  pugnacious 
tendencies,  and  possessed  the  most  liberal  definition  of 
eccentricity  conceivable.  How  else  should  it  secure  its 
Sunday-afternoon  amusements,  and  maintain  its  clowns 
and  oddities  ? 

Crimes  against  society  found  swift  enough  punish- 
ment. The  thief,  for  instance,  was  publicly  flogged, 
and  expelled  from  camp ;  forfeiting,  of  course,  whatever 
mining-ground  he  had  occupied.  But  the  thieves  were 
usually  the  hangers-on  of  the  camp,  the  idle  Mexicans, 
or  South-sea  Islanders,  not  the  men  who  owned  and 


THE   EARLIEST   MINING-COURTS.  127 

worked  claims.  Stealing,  as  we  have  previously  stated, 
involved  a  greater  degree  of  crime  than  it  possibly  could 
in  a  more  highly  organized  commonwealth ;  because  the 
social  compact  was  simpler,  and  more  clearly  understood 
by  all  men. 

Late  in  1848  the  foreign  element  began  to  find  its 
way  to  the  mines,  and  compelled  better  organization 
on  the  part  of  the  Americans.  When  Mexicans  settled 
the  noted  "  Sonoranian  Camp,"  now  the  town  of  Sonora, 
in  Tuolumne  County,  nineteen  white  men  —  twelve  of 
them  Americans  —  followed,  and,  a  little  later,  held  a 
miners'  meeting,  elected  R.  S.  Ham  as  alcalde,  and 
agreed  to  support  his  authority.  This  district,  James- 
town, was  known  as  the  "American  Camp."  The 
Mexicans  and  Chilians  were  greatly  in  the  majority  in 
the  region,  and  their  numbers  increased  during  the  next 
year.  Many  of  them  were  men  of  the  worst  charac- 
ter, and  only  the  closest  organization  prevented  a  reign 
of  lawlessness.  The  real  struggle  for  control  of  the 
southern  mines  was,  however,  at  a  later  period  than 
'48.  "  Sonoranian  Camp  "  obeyed  the  mandates  of  Al- 
calde Ham  with  reasonable  cheerfulness,  and  the  few 
miners'  meetings  held  were  devoted  to  making  laws 
regarding  claims.  There  was  no  official  communication 
between  Alcalde  Ham  and  Colonel  Mason,  then  act- 
ing governor  of  California  :  the  camp  was  left  to  govern 
itself. 

In  the  camps  of  '48,  Americans  learned  what  strength 
there  was  in  organization ;  but  systematic  development 
of  mining-courts,  alcalde-courts,  and  other  forms  of 
camp-government,  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  existed 
until  the  next  year.  The  work  of  the  better  class  of 
miners,  during  the  winter  of  1848-49,  was  closely  con- 
nected with  the  beghinings  of  that  larger  life,  —  State 


128  MINING-CAMPS. 

organization.  The  miners  returning  to  their  homes, 
forced  by  winter  storms  to  desert  their  camps  in  the 
mountain  gulches,  began  to  seek  for  a  remedy  for 
certain  no  longer  endurable  evils  that  were  afflicting 
the  body  politic.  American  miners  who  had  lived  in 
peace  and  friendliness  all  summer  in  their  camps,  had 
formed  new  bonds  of  fellowship,  had  more  closely  ce- 
mented former  bonds,  and  had  proved  their  ability  to 
protect  and  govern  themselves,  were  now  to  take  the 
initiative  in  several  remarkable  organizing  efforts. 

A  "  memorial,"  at  a  later  period  presented  to  Con- 
gress, reviews  the  political  history  of  California. ^  It 
says,  in  effect,  that,  "  as  early  as  1847,"  many  Ameri- 
cans in  California  advocated  the  establishment  of  a 
civil  Territorial  form  of  government ;  that,  in  October 
of  that  year,  the  military  contribution  tariff  was  estab- 
lished in  Californian  ports,  and  rigorously  enforced,  but 
never  once  resisted  though  extremely  onerous;  that 
the  overland  immigration  of  1847  strengthened  the  de- 
sire for  a  more  American  form  of  government;  that 
the  military  power  continued  taxation  without  repre- 
sentation, and  afforded  inadequate  protection  to  life  and 
property ;  that  the  gold-discovery  occurred,  and  in  April 
the  towns  were  deserted,  all  industrial  pursuits  were 
abandoned,  and  "  a  pall  seemed  to  settle  upon  the  coun- 
try;" that  in  August  the  news  of  the  treaty  with 
Mexico  was  received,  but  the  existing  order  of  things 
was  nevertheless  continued.  It  describes  an  unsettled 
and  unstable  order  of  things,  and  a  dissatisfaction  and 
even  a  profound  discontent  as  existing  along  the  Cali- 
fornia coast  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1848.     It  then 

1  Memorial  presented  March  12,  1850,  by  Messrs.  Gwin,  Fremont, 
Wright,  and  Gilbert,  senators  and  representatives  elect  from  California. 
App.  to  Debates  in  Convention,  Washington,  1850. 


THE  EARLIEST  MINING-COURTS.  129 

proceeds  to  use  the  following  remarkable  language  re- 
garding the  influence  of  the  miners:  — 

"  Upon  the  coming-on  of  winter,  the  great  majority  of  the  miners 
returned  to  their  homes  in  the  towns.  They  came  rich  in  gold- 
dust  ;  but  a  single  glance  at  the  desolate  and  unthrifty  appearance 
of  the  territory  convinced  them  that  other  pursuits  than  that  of 
gold-digging  must  receive  a  portion  of  their  care  and  labor  .  .  . 
They  felt,  as  all  Americans  feel,  that  the  most  important  step  they 
could  take,  and  that  most  imperatively  called  for  by  the  wants  of 
the  inhabitants,  was  the  establishment  of  a  stable  system  of  gov- 
ernment, which  would  command  the  respect  and  obedience  of  the 
people  whose  property  it  protected,  and  whose  rights  it  preserved. 
Congress  had  adjourned  without  providing  a  Territorial  govern- 
ment ;  and  the  public  had  settled  into  the  firm  conviction  that  the 
de  facto  government  was  radically  defective,  and  incapable  of  an- 
swering the  public  wants.'* 

This  ample  recognition  of  the  important  place  in 
State-organization  taken  by  the  returned  miners  appears 
to  be  fully  borne  out  by  the  facts.  A  large  public 
meeting  was  held  at  San  Jos^,  Dec.  11,  1848,  at  which 
the  people  of  California  were  asked  to  organize  in 
districts,  and  elect  delegates  to  a  convention  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a  "provisional  Territorial  govern- 
ment," to  go  into  immediate  operation,  and  remain  in 
full  force  until  superseded  by  Congressional  action. 
The  plan  was  heartily  welcomed  and  indorsed  at  mass- 
meetings  held  in  San  Francisco,  Dec.  21  and  23;  in 
Sacramento,  Jan.  6  and  8 ;  in  Monterey,  Jan.  31 ;  and 
in  Sonoma,  February  5.  Returned  miners  were  promi- 
nent men  in  all  these  meetings.  The  very  inclement 
weather,  and  impassable  condition  of  the  roads,  had 
caused  nearly  two  months  to  intervene  between  the 
San  Jos^  meeting  and  the  Sonoma  meeting,  and  had 
prevented  proposed  meetings  in  other  districts;  but 
the  five  districts  mentioned  comprised  more  than  three- 


130  MINING-CAMPS. 

fifths  of  the  whole  population  of  California,  and  they 
elected  delegates  to  a  convention  to  be  held  early  in 
March.  Part  also  of  this  movement,  was  the  elec- 
tion, early  in  the  year  1849,  of  "district  legislative 
assemblies  "  for  Sacramento  and  Sonoma.  The  legis- 
lature elected  m  San  Francisco,  for  local  reasons,  was 
of  a  somewhat  different  type,  and  was  chosen  at  a 
later  date.  The  earlier  assembly  of  Sacramento,  which 
aimed  to  govern  the  entire  surrounding  region,  was 
more  directly  the  result  of  mining-organizations  than 
were  the  Sonoma  and  San  Francisco  assemblies.  But 
all  three  of  them  disbanded  peaceably  in  obedience  to 
Governor  Bennett  Riley's  orders.  By  the  time  the 
Territorial  Convention  assembled,  the  majority  saw 
that  California  was  too  wealthy  and  populous  for  a 
Territorial  government ;  and  they  at  once  issued  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people,  recommending  a  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, which  took  place  in  September,  1849,  at  the  old 
pueblo  of  Monterey. 

In  all  the  important  political  events  which  began 
with  the  San  Jos^  meeting  of  December,  1848,  and 
ended  with  the  adoption  of  a  State  constitution,  the 
men  who  had  toiled,  struggled,  suffered,  and  "  stood  by 
each  other  "  in  the  mining-camps  were  leading  spirits. 
Some  of  them  returned  to  the  mines ;  some  engaged  in 
other  and  more  profitable  occupations  in  the  valleys  and 
coast-towns,  for  few  of  the  pioneers  of  '48  had  accumu- 
lated fortunes. 

The  preceding  pages  have  in  no  wise  exaggerated  the 
intrinsic  value  of  the  work  done  by  the  "  men  of  '48  " 
in  settling  the  foundations  of  society.  Throughout 
our  examination  into  tlie  methods  of  later  camps,  and 
the  laws  made  by  various  districts,  we  shall  be  con- 
stantly finding  traces   of  earlier   institutional    organi- 


THE  EARLIEST   MINING-COUETS.  131 

zation.  The  debt  of  the  Pacific  Coast  to  the  few 
thousands  of  miners  who  first  explored  the  Sacramento 
and  El  Dorado  placers  is  greater  than  historians  have 
heretofore  acknowledged.  They  were  the  pioneers  of 
the  pioneers:  without  their  brave  and  loyal  work  as 
American  citizens,  the  greater  and  more  dazzlingly 
successful  work  of  that  strange  and  complex  era  which 
followed  could  never  have  been  accomplished. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  GOLDEN  PRIME  OF  '49. 

A  KNOWLEDGE  of  the  characteristic  features  of  the 
mining-days  of  1849  is  essential  to  a  full  appreciation 
of  the  good  sense  and  political  wisdom  shown  by  the 
miners  as  a  class.  Merchants,  mechanics,  farmers,  ex- 
isted but  to  supply  the  miners ;  and  the  gold  of  the 
mines  was  the  chief  resource  of  California.  Four-fifths 
of  the  able-bodied  male  population  were  living  in  the 
mineral  belt,  or  were  on  their  way  thither,  when  the 
working-season  of  1849  opened.  Only  four  years  be- 
fore, in  the  summer  of  1845,  there  had  been  but  five 
hundrea  Americans  in  California;  in  February,  1848, 
but  two  thousand ;  by  December,  1848,  this  number  had 
grown  to  six  thousand ;  by  July,  1849,  to  fifteen  thou- 
sand ;  and  by  December,  1849,  to  fifty-three  thousand. 
Chiefly  owing  to  the  gold-rush  of  1848-63,  the  centre 
of  population  of  the  United  States  moved  eighty-one 
miles  farther  west.  Within  four  years  after  the  spring 
of  1849,  the  population  of  the  new  State  was  three 
hundred  thousand ;  and  more  than  two  hundred  and 
sixty  million  dollars  had  been  dug  from  the  gold-fields. 
The  gold-product  of  California  for"  all  the  years  from 
1848  to  1883  inclusive  has  been  over  twelve  huj;idred 
millions  of  dollars,  or  three-fourths  of  the  entire  gold- 
product  of  the  United  States  during  the  past  centiyy. 
But,  great  as  this  total  is,  it  would  have  seemed  little  to 

132 


THE  GOLDEN   PRIME  OF   '49.  133 

the  minds  of  the  excited  Argonauts  of  1849.  Only  the 
stories  of  the  fortunate  wealth-seekers  had  gone  abroad 
to  the  world,  and  men  were  prepared  to  believe  any 
thing  about  California. 

Dr.  Stillman,  in  his  "Seeking  the  Golden  Fleece," 
says  that  at  the  close  of  January,  1849,  *"  sixty  vessels 
had  sailed  from  Atlantic  seaports,  carrying  eight  thou- 
sand men,  and  seventy  more  vessels  were  up  for  pas- 
sage." Bayard  Taylor,  speaking  more  particularly  of 
the  land-journey,  said  that  "  it  more  than  equalled  the 
great  military  expeditions  of  the  Middle  Ages,  in  magni- 
tude, peril,  and  adventure."  John  S.  Hittell  writes: 
"From  Maine  to  Texas  there  was  one  universal  frenzy." 

One  of  the  "  pilgrims  "  wrote  a  song,  which  was  soon 
heard  on  every  street-corner  of  the  Atlantic  cities,  in 
which  he  proclaimed,  — 

"  Oh !  California,  that's  the  land  for  me ! 
I'm  bound  for  the  Sacramento, 
With  the  washbowl  on  my  knee." 

As  in  the  excitement  of  '48,  so  again  in  '49  a  nucleus 
of  camp-organization  often  began  in  these  companies  of 
pilgrims,  by  land  or  by  sea,  who  became  acquaintances 
and  friends,  who  decided  to  proceed  to  the  same  district 
of  the  mining-region,  and  who  often  formed  associated 
bodies  of  workers.  The  men  who  crossed  the  plains 
together,  or  were  for  months  in  the  same  ship,  hold 
annual  re-unions  at  the  present  time,  on  the  Pacific 
Coast.  Each  year  their  numbers  lessen,  but  the  sur- 
vivors cling  to  the  observance  with  ever-strengthening 
affection. 

There  were  many  interesting  features  about  this 
great  onset,  all  the  world  seeming  to  be  in  haste  to 
occupy  this  hitherto  neglected  region.     Armies  of  emi- 


184  MINING-CAMPS. 

grants  were  attracted  by  the  magic  of  its  name,  and 
toiled  wearily  in  wavering  lines  across  the  continent. 
Many  a  mountain  valley  was  thus  settled  long  before  it 
could  have  been  reached  in  the  natural  course  of  agri- 
cultural progress,  and  the  entire  frontier  of  the  West 
was  borne  forward ;  the  immemorial  race-impulse  of  the 
Aryan  had  re-awakened  with  all  its  ancient  force.  In 
vain  the  elders  of  lonely  Deseret,  and  the  dupes  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  tried  by  falsehood  and  crime  to  roll 
back  or  turn  aside  this  dreaded  and  hated  advance 
of  American  civilization.  Some  of  the  "Latter-day 
Saints  "  joined  the  current,  but  most  of  them  were  faith- 
ful to  their  shrine.^  But  the  fierce,  impetuous,  resist- 
less human  torrent  swept  on  its  way  to  the  Pacific 
Coast :  it  ran  in  haste,  it  fairly  leaped  over  obstacles,  as 
one  sees  mountain  rivers  curl  down  into  hollows,  and 
curve  over  bowlders,  till,  in  the  rush  of  its  advance,  the 
smallest  inequality  of  the  channel  is  reproduced  in  its 
surface. 

The  mining-camps,  whose  white  tents  and  rude  cabins 
rose  so  rapidly  beside  these  rivers  of  this  new  Colchis 
in  early  '49,  have  found  an  enduring  place  in  litera- 
ture. The  Argonaut  himself  has  become  one  of  the 
heroic  figures  of  the  past,  and  is  likely  enough  to  sur- 
vive, as  real  and  strong  a  type  in  the  story  of  America 
as  Viking  or  Crusader  in  that  of  Europe.  But  it 
is  the  place  held  by  the  Argoiuiut  as  an  organizer 
of  society,  that  is  most  important.  He  often  appears 
in  literature  as  a  dialect-speaking  rowdy,  savagely  pic- 
turesque, rudely  turbulent :  in  reality,  he  was  a  plain 
American  citizen  cut  loose  from  authority,  freed  from 

^  The  Mormon  leaders  told  their  followers,  that  gold  was  to  pave 
streets  and  cover  house.s;  and,  if  tliey  were  faithful,  they  should  liave 
more  than  suJiicient  iu  their  own  territory  when  the  lumper  time  came. 


THE  GOLDEN   PRIME  OF   '49.  135 

the  restraints  and  protections  of  law,  and  forced  to 
make  the  defence  and  organization  of  society  a  part  of 
his  daily  business.  In  its  best  estate,  the  mining-camp 
of  California  was  a  manifestation  of  the  inherent  capa- 
cities of  the  race  for  self-government.  That  political 
instinct,  deep  rooted  in  Lex  Saxonum,  to  blossom  in 
Magna  Charta  and  in  English  unwritten  constitution, 
has  seldom  in  modern  times  afforded  a  finer  illustration 
of  its  seemingly  inexhaustible  force.  Here,  in  a  new 
land,  under  new  conditions,  subjected  to  tremendous 
pressure  and  strain,  but  successfully  resisting  them,  were 
associated  bodies  of  freemen  bound  together  for  a  time 
by  common  interests,  ruled  by  equal  laws,  and  owning 
allegiance  to  no  higher  authority  than  their  own  sense 
of  right  and  wrong.  They  held  meetings,  chose  offi- 
cers, decided  disputes,  meted  out  a  stern  and  swift 
punishment  to  offenders,  and  managed  their  local  affairs 
with  entire  success ;  and  the  growth  of  their  commu- 
nities was  proceeding  at  such  a  rapid  rate,  that  days 
and  weeks  were  often  sufficient  for  vital  changes,  which, 
in  more  staid  communities,  would  have  required  months 
or  even  years. 

The  gateway  to  the  mines  was  San  Francisco.  In 
January,  1849,  when  Rev.  Dwight  Hunt,  who  had  for 
several  months  preached  to  the  returned  miners  throng- 
ing the  streets,  organized  the  "First  Congregational 
Church,"  the  population  of  the  city  was  less  than  fif- 
teen hundred.  A  little  later,  the  first  ship-loads  of 
immigrants  began  to  arrive;  and,  though  every  new- 
comer felt  obliged  to  visit  the  mines  to  see  for  himself, 
yet  many  persons  soon  returned  to  enter  into  business ; 
and  San  Francisco  had  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants 
before  the  close  of  the  year. 

A  San-Francisco  pioneer  of  '49  writes :  — 


136  MINING-CAMPS. 

"  Gold-dust,  provisions,  and  tools  were  safe  without  police.  We 
had  no  disturbances  at  first,  no  rows,  and  no  murders.  JNIen  gam- 
bled, for  that  was  an  old  Calif or^iia  vice ;  ^  but  they  did  so  as 
honestly  as  it  can  be  done.  We  had  no  poor  men,  and  labor  was 
at  a  premium  everywhere." 

Before  very  long,  however,  an  organization  called 
»*  The  Hounds  "  began  to  rob  Spanish- Americans,  and 
committed  other  outrages ;  and,  July  16,  the  law-abid- 
ing citizens,  who  had  in  vain  complained  of  the  ineffi- 
ciency of  the  alcalde,  met,  organized  a  court,  elected  a 
judge  and  attorneys,  and  by  fines  and  imprisonments 
put  an  end  for  some  years  to  ruffian  supremacy. 

The  harbor  of  San  Francisco  became  populous  with 
ships  of  every  nation.  When  scholarly  Richard  H. 
Dana,  Harvard  graduate,  adventurous  sailor  before  the 
mast,  had  visited  Yerba  Buena  harbor,  while  the  Mexi- 
can "eagle  and  nopal  flag"  yet  drooped  from  the  pre- 
sidio staff,  there  was  not  a  single  vessel  in  the  harbor, 
not  a  single  boat  on  the  broad  bay,  and  out  one  house 
where  San  Francisco  now  stands.  Herds  of  deer  came 
down  to  the  water's  edge ;  and,  as  in  Kotzebue's  time, 
sea-otters  swam  within  easy  gun-shot.^  Soon  after,  a 
Russian  vessel  entered  the  harbor,  but  in  a  few  days 


1  Gambling  in  California  was  permitted  under  Mexican  rule,  and 
under  the  military  government  of  '4G-'49.  It  was  even  a  source  of 
revenue  to  the  ayitntamiento  of  San  Francisco  in  August,  1849.  It 
was  a  legalized  and  important  pursuit,  followed  with  zeal  by  Mexicans, 
French,  and  Americans.    See  Hittell,  Hist.  San  Francisco,  p.  236. 

2  Lieutenant  Kotzebue  visited  San  Francisco  Bay  in  1810,  when  Argu- 
ello  was  Spanish  comraandante,  and  Kuskoff  ruled  iu  the  Russian  set- 
tlement at  Bodega,  thirty  miles  northward.  Twenty  Russians  and  fifty 
Indians  captured  two  thousand  sea-otters  that  season.  Count  AdeU>ert 
Von  Chamisso,  that  sensitive  genius,  author  of  "  Peter  Schlemihl,"  and 
Eschscholtz  the  botanist,  were  members  of  this  expedition.  The  lat- 
ter's  consonantal  name  is  perpetuated  in  the  most  brilliant  flower  of 
the  Pacific-coast  flora,  — the  rich  orange-scarlet  wild  poppy  of  field  and 
hillside. 


THE  GOLDEN   PRIME  OF   '49.  137 

sailed  away,  and  left  the  solitary  hide-droger  to  its 
work.  Less  than  fifteen  years  later  the  summer  of 
1849  saw  no  less  than  five 'hundred  and  forty-nine  sea- 
going vessels  in  the  port.  In  the  month  of  August 
four  hundred  large  ships  were  idly  swinging  at  anchor, 
destitute  of  crews ;  for  their  sailors  had  deserted,  swum 
ashore,  escaped  to  the  gold-fields.  Thirty-five  thousand 
men  came  by  sea,  and  forty-two  thousand  by  land,  dur- 
ing the  year.  Australia,  the  Asian  coasts,  Africa,  and 
South  America  contributed  to  the  motley  host  that 
thronged  the  roads  to  the  placers. 

Society  was  masculine,  and  most  of  the  men  were 
under  forty.  In  the  spring  of  1849,  there  were  but 
fifteen  women  in  San  Francisco.  As  one  writer  says, 
"  Women  were  queens,  children  were  angels."  Bearded 
and  weather-bronzed  miners  stood  for  hours  in  the 
streets  to  get  a  glimpse  of  a  child  at  play.  At  a  little 
later  period,  there  were  plenty  of  women  who  were 
"vile  libels  on  their  sex;"  but  the  reverence  that  Cali- 
fornians  of  the  gold-era  paid  to  respectable  women  has 
received  a  tribute  of  admiring  praise  from  all  observers. 
Men  often  travelled  miles  to  welcome  "the  first  real 
lady  in  camp."  A  New-England  youth  of  seventeen 
once  rode  thirty-five  miles,  after  a  week's  hard  work  in 
his  father's  claim,  to  see  a  miner's  wife  who  had  arrived 
in  an  adjoining  district.  "  Because,"  he  said,  "  I  wanted 
to  see  a  home-like  lady ;  and,  father,  do  you  know,  she 
sewed  a  button  on  for  me,  and  told  me  not  to  gamble 
and  not  to  drink.     It  sounded  just  like  mother." 

New  towns  were  laid  out  in  the  valleys  to  supply  the 
camps,  and  those  already  established  grew  with  aston- 
ishing rapidity.  Stockton,  for  instance,  increased  in 
three  months  from  a  solitary  ranch-house  to  a  canvas 
city   of   one   thousand    inhabitants.     Sacramento    also 


138  MINING-CAMPS. 

became  a  canvas  city,  where  dust-clouds  whirled,  and 
men,  mules,  and  oxen  toiled;  where  boxes,  barrels, 
bales,  innumerable,  were  piled  in  the  open  air,  no  shel- 
ter being  needed  for  months.  For  the  City  Hotel,  Sac- 
ramento, thirty  thousand  dollars  per  year  was  paid  as 
rent,  although  it  was  only  a  small  frame  building.  The 
Parker  House,  San  Francisco,  cost  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars to  build,  and  rented  for  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
per  month.  Speculation  in  promising  town-sites  soon 
reached  as  extravagant  heights  as  it  ever  did  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley  or  in  the  Pennsylvania  oil-region. 
Every  cross-road,  river-landing,  and  ferry  had  its  "  cor- 
ner-lot speculators,"  who  prophesied  its  future  great- 
ness. The  "town  of  Oro,"  near  the  mouth  of  Bear 
River,  had  but  one  house,  and  soon  lost  even  that. 
Linda,  Eliza  Featherton,  Kearney,  and  dozens  of  others, 
paper  towns  of  the  lowlands,  are  familiar  to  all  pioneers. 
The  conditions  under  which  business  had  to  be  con- 
ducted in  San  Francisco  and  at  the  interior  towns  were 
extremely  trying  and  difficult.  Tlie  only  supply-mar- 
kets were  so  remote,  that  the  greatest  fluctuations  in 
the  stock  of  goods  on  hand  were  constantly  occurring, 
against  which  no  human  foresight  could  guard.  New 
York  was  nineteen  thousand  miles  distant  by  the  sea- 
route  ;  and  about  six  months  were  required  to  send  an 
order  from  San  Francisco,  and  get  the  goods  delivered. 
Oregon's  few  thousand  pioneers  had  little  to  sell.  China 
Sent  only  rice  and  sugar ;  Australia  and  Chili  supplied 
some  flour.  Every  thing  else  came  from  the  Atlantic 
seaports.  Lumber,  worth  four  hundred  dollars  per 
thousand  one  month,  would  not  pay  for  the  freight  four 
months  later;  tobacco,  once  worth  two  dollars  a  pound, 
was  tossed  in  the  streets.  Saleratus  fluctuated  between 
twenty-five  cents  and  fifteen  dollars  per  pound.     The 


THE  GOLDEN   PRIME  OF   '49.  139 

entire  community  was  dependent  for  food  and  clothing 
upon  other  communities  thousands  of  miles  distant. 
And  the  rate  of  interest  was  ten  per  cent  per  month. 

By  the  time  goods  reached  the  mountain  camps,  their 
cost  was  so  enormous  that  most  of  the  miner's  gains 
went  for  necessaries  of  life.^  Those  who  were  very 
fortunate  often  indulged  in  curious  and  expensive 
whims  and  "extravaganzas,"  feeling  sure  that  their 
claims  would  continue  to  yield  treasure.  They  bought 
the  costliest  broadcloth,  drank  the  finest  wines,  and 
smoked  the  best  brands  of  cigars.  "  A  wild,  heedless, 
wasteful,  dissipated  set  of  men,"  is  what  one  of  the 
"  forty-niners  "  calls  his  old  comrades.  Men  who  had 
been  brought  up  to  keep  sober,  and  earn  sixteen  dollars 
per  month,  and  save  half  of  it,  went  to  California, 
found  rich  claims,  earned  several  hundred  dollars  a 
month,  — of  which  they  might  have  saved  three-fourths, 
—  but  spent  every  cent  in  riotous  living.  Men  who 
had  been  New- York  hod-carriers  paid  out  ten  dollars 
a  day  for  canned  fruits  and  potted  meats.  But  only  a 
few  years  later,  when  the  surface  placers  were  all  ex- 
hausted, these  same  unkempo  sybarites  returned  to 
beans  and  pork,  strapped  up  their  blankets,  and  made 
prospect  tours  to  other  regions,  taking  their  reverses 
more  placidly  than  one  could  have  thought  possible. 

To  many  cheerful,  impetuous,  and  intelligent  men, 
the  ups  and  downs  of  mining-life  seemed  full  of  wild 
fascination.  To  be  there  was  to  be  a  part  of  a  scene 
that  each  thoughtful  miner  knew  in  his  heart  was  as 

1  Mr.  George  F.  Parsons,  for  many  years  editor  of  the  Sacramento 
Record-Union,  and  author  of  the  Life  of  James  W.  Marshall,  the 
discoverer  of  gold  in  California,  copied  the  following  prices  from  the 
books  of  the  Sutter  Fort  store:  "Two  white  shirts,  S40;  one  fine-tooth 
comb,  ^G;  one  barrel  of  mess  pork,  S210;  one  dozen  sardines,  S35;  two 
hundred  pounds  of  flour,  $150;  one  tiu  pan,  ^0;  one  candle,  $3." 


140  MTNING-CAMPS. 

evanescent  as  it  was  brilliant,  —  an  episode  whose  inten- 
sity corresponded  accurately  to  its  briefness.  And,  to 
many  persons  of  this  type,  it  certainly  seemed  as  if  the 
way  to  make  the  most  of  the  era  was  to  take  a  hand 
in  every  thing  that  came  along.  Reports  filled  each 
camp,  almost  every  week,  telling  of  new  diggings  where 
from  a  hundred  to  a  thousand  dollars  might  easily  be 
collected  in  a  day.  Down  came  the  tent-ropes,  the 
claims  were  abandoned;  the  epidemic  gold-rush  fever 
had  seized  each  Argonaut  in  the  camp.  They  went  to 
Gold  Lake,  Gold  Bluffs,  and  a  hundred  other  as  loudly 
trumpeted  regions,  till  the  habit  of  following  with 
swift  feet  each  new  excitement  became  as  much  a  part 
of  the  Argonaut's  nature  as  the  habit  of  running  after 
a  fire  is  a  part  of  the  healthy  boy's  organization.  The 
Argonaut  was  well  enough  aware  that  the  blaze  is  very 
apt  to  be  only  a  bonfire,  or  else  to  be  over  long  before 
he  arrives.  But  he  could  not  bear  to  stand  by,  and  see 
others  run  and  hurrah :  so  off  he  started  at  the  best  of 
his  speed,  to  come  back,  a  few  months  later,  "dead 
broke  "  financially,  but  wealthy  in  experience. 

Fortunately  there  were  men  of  quite  another  type, 
whose  clear  brains  and  steady  habits  enabled  them  to 
lay  aside  a  part  of  their  gains,  afterwards  to  push  larger 
enterprises,  to  organize  mining-companies,  to  dig  great 
water-ditches  extending  for  miles  in  a  magnificent  sys- 
tem of  engineering.  Some  of  them  bought  farms  in  the 
valleys,  or  entered  into  business  in  the  towns  and  cities, 
retaining  to  the  fullest  degree  their  affection  for  the 
wild  mountain  realm  where  they  first  obtained  a  start 
in  life.  Even  in  the  earlier  fever-heats  of  the  gold  ex- 
citement, there  were  numbers  of  men  who  had  come  to 
California  to  remain,  and  make  homes,  who  recognized 
vast  resources  other  than  mineral,  and  by  whose  uu- 


THE  GOLDEN   PRIME  OF   '49.  141 

swerving  fidelity  to  justice  the  best  elements  of  camp- 
life  were  evolved.  The  returned  miners  of  1848,  and 
the  home-hungry,  home-creating  few  of  the  thousands 
of  1849,  formed  the  nucleus  of  safety-committees  and 
camp-courts  of  law. 

A  fine  example  of  this  was  afforded  in  what  were 
called  the  Southern  mines,  the  camps  of  Tuolumne, 
whose  organization  late  in  1848  has  been  described  in 
the  preceding  chapter.  The  several  hundred  dwellers 
in  and  about  the  Mexican  or  "  Sonoranian  "  camp  were 
re-enforced  as  early  as  July,  1849,  by  fully  fifteen  thou- 
sand foreigners,  chiefly  from  Sonora,  Chili,  and  the  Isth- 
mus. Many  of  them  came  in  armed  bands,  and  made 
the  country  unsafe.  Some  of  them  were  outlaws  and 
desperadoes  of  the  worst  types.  They  brought  degraded 
women  with  them,  had  fandangos  and  bull-fights,  and 
were  a  thoroughly  alien  community.  Opposed  to  them 
was  the  little  camp  of  Americans  who  had  elected  their 
alcalde  the  previous  autumn,  and  several  other  Ameri- 
can camps,  well  organized  for  self-protection,  founded 
early  in  1849.  The  foreign  invasion  (for  it  can  be 
termed  little  else)  was  held  in  check,  and  finally  turned 
back,  only  by  the  energy  and  "inborn  capacity  for 
creating  order  "  displayed  by  some  of  the  Americans. 
The  methods  taken  by  the  Americans  were  not  always 
wise  or  just:  in  many  individual  cases,  cruelty  was 
practised  towards  weak  and  inoffensive  Mexicans,  and 
their  claims  were  taken  from  them,  as  has  been  done  in 
innumerable  cases  along  the  south-west  frontiers  within 
the  past  few  years.  But  the  central  fact  of  the  neces- 
sity for  organization  on  the  part  of  the  Americans 
remains  undisputed.  Men  had  been  robbed,  horses 
stolen,  and  the  roads  rendered  unsafe  for  travellers. 
In  some  camps  "good  and  true  men"  were  at  once 


142  MIKING-CAMPS. 

elected  as  alcaldes ;  in  others  there  was  the  direct  inter- 
vention of  "  miners'  courts,"  such  as  adopted  by  some 
of  the  miners  of  '48 ;  still  a  third  form  was  the  election 
of  a  committee  of  justice.  Under  all  these  forms,  sup- 
ported by  public  opinion,  the  work  of  purification  was 
done  rapidly  and  well.  Suspicious  characters,  both 
Mexican  and  American,  were  notified  to  leave ;  crimi- 
nals were  followed,  captured,  and  punished.  Although 
the  camps  southward  from  Placerville  (then  Hangtown) 
were  undoubtedly  more  turbulent  than  the  northern 
mines,  they  struggled  against  greater  difficulties,  not 
only  in  1849,  but  at  several  subsequent  periods,  as  we 
shall  see  in  a  later  chapter. 

The  mountain  land  over  which  mining  became  the 
chief  industry  of  men,  and  to  which  all  sea-roads  and 
trails  along  the  Sierra  passes  seemed  to  lead,  was  a  re- 
gion fitted  by  nature  to  attract  and  secure  the  affections 
of  a  hardy  and  energetic  race.  Its  physical  features 
are  most  noble  and  inspiring,  even  -at  the  present  day 
when  the  valleys  and  foot-hills  are  subdued  to  agri- 
cultural purposes,  and  brought  under  a  high  state  of 
cultivation.  But  when  the  miners  of  '49  began  to 
pitch  their  tents  in  the  wilderness,  it  was  unfenced, 
unclaimed,  and  almost  unexplored ;  for  the  work  of  the 
previous  year  had  only  mapped  out  the  leading  features 
of  the  mineral  belt.  The  unsurpassed  wealth  of  what 
is  now  Nevada  County  was  as  yet  undiscovered.  Every- 
where the  land  had  a  charm  that  no  language  can  de- 
scribe. Flowers  of  new  species  and  wonderful  beauty 
bloomed  on  slope  and  crag,  trees  of  unparalleled  grandeur 
stood  in  the  forests,  the  climate  of  the  foot-hills  was  like 
that  of  Italy.  From  the  great  and  sea-like  valley  of  the 
Sacramento,  eastward  through  rolling,  oak-clad  hills  to 
the  broad  plateau  of  the  Sierras,  and  through  wild  forests 


THE  GOLDEN   PRIME   OF   '49.  143 

and  dim  gorges  to  the  granite  heights  and  the  pointed 
peaks  covered  with  eternal  snow,  the  ardent  miners 
searched  every  gulch,  traced  every  stream  to  its  source, 
and  in  five  years  of  eager,  reckless  toil  did  the  work 
that  in  other  communities  would  have  taken  a  genera- 
tion. They  spread  out  in  every  direction  from  the 
Sacramento  and  Feather-river  region,  searching  ridge 
and  ravine  southward  to  the  desert  sands  and  borax 
deposits  of  Mojave,  northward  to  the  barren  lava-beds 
of  Modoc.  They  crossed  the  westward  valley  to  explore 
the  wildest  and  most  difficult  recesses  of  the  Coast 
Range;  established  Redding  Springs,  afterwards  Shasta 
City;  rifled  the  Trinity  basin  of  its  riches;  and  dis- 
covered the  placers  of  Klamath,  Siskiyou,  and  Southern 
Oregon.  They  went  waist-deep  into  the  ocean,  and 
brought  back  tales  of  beaches  gold-spangled  by 

"  All  the  storms 
That  hurled  their  ancient,  white-topped,  weary  waves 
On  California,  since  the  world  began.'* 

The  flickering,  beckoning  will-o'-the-wisp  that  ever 
led  them  on  was  the  hope  of  new  diggings,  of  nuggets 
gleaming  from  the  moss  of  mountain  lakes,  of 

"  Beds  of  streams  that  evermore 
Washed  down  the  golden  grain,  and  in  a  year 
Paid  to  the  treasury  of  the  insatiate  flood 
More  than  the  subjects  of  the  richest  kings 
Yield  to  their  despots  in  a  century." 

But  of  all  the  writers  who  have  attempted  to  express 
the  splendid  virility,  the  impetuous  battle  with  nature's 
forces,  the  healthy  outdoor  atmosphere  of  happy,  hearty 
toil,  that  the  "  miners  of  '49  "  knew  so  well,  none  have 
said  the  right  word  in  a  better  way  than  Fitz  James 
O'Brien,  poet,  romancist,  genial  Bohemian,  loyal  friend, 


144  MINING-CAMPS. 

knightly  soldier.     Listen  to  the  song  of  his  "  Sewing- 
bird  "  lyric :  — 

"  Up  in  a  wild  Californian  hill, 

Where  the  torrents  swept  with  a  mighty  will, 

And  the  grandeur  of  Nature  filled  the  air, 

And  the  cliffs  were  lofty,  rugged,  and  bare, 

Some  thousands  of  lusty  fellows  she  saw 

Obeying  the  first  great  natural  law. 

From  the  mountain's  side  they  had  scooped  the  earth, 

Down  to  the  veins  where  the  gold  had  birth ; 

And  the  mighty  pits  they  had  girdled  about 

With  ramparts  massive  and  wide  and  stout ; 

And  they  curbed  the  torrents,  and  swept  them  round 

Wheresoever  they  willed,  through  virgin  ground. 

They  rocked  huge  cradles  the  livelong  day, 

And  shovelled  the  heavy,  tenacious  clay. 

And  grasped  the  nugget  of  gleaming  ore. 

The  sinews  of  commerce  on  every  shore." 

I  have  visited  the  mining-region,  the  realm  of  the 
*'  Argonauts  of  '49."  Titans  have  been  at  work  there. 
The  land  for  miles  is  like  a  battle-field  where  primal 
forces  and  giant  passions  have  wrestled.  Rivers  have 
been  turned  aside ;  mountains  hurled  into  chasms,  or 
stripped  to  the  bed-rock  in  naked  disarray.  I  have 
seen  wild  and  steep  ravines  where  each  square  rod  once 
had  its  miner ;  where  stores,  theatres,  and  banks  once 
stood  in  the  flat,  and  gold-dust  ran  in  the  streets,  and 
every  man  carried  his  pistol,  and  a  day  of  life  contained 
more  of  healthy  out-door  existence  and  passionate  en- 
ergy than  does  a  year  of  life  in  a  metropolis :  and  in 
those  ravines  —  once  so  populous  —  a  few  old  and  trem- 
bling men,  worn  out  before  their  time,  and  pitiful  to  look 
upon,  creep  down  from  their  cabins  to  pick  and  moil 
among  the  crevices  for  the  little  gold  left  by  the  gallant 
"forty-niners;"  and  creep  back  to  brood  over  memories, 


THE  GOLDEN  PREME  OF   '49.  145 

while  year  after  year  they  watch  with  feelings  of  pain 
and  almost  anger  the  approach  of  gardens,  vineyards, 
orchards,  slowly  re-subduing,  in  far  more  durable  man- 
ner, the  lost  conquests  of  the  Argonauts. 

Even  to-day  the  smallest  of  these  decaying  camps  is 
worth  patient  study.  In  the  hollows,  grown  over  with 
blossoming  vines,  are  acres  upon  acres  of  bowlders  and 
dSbris^  moved,  sifted,  and  piled  up  by  the  hands  of 
pioneers;  on  the  hill's  sunny  slope  are  grass-covered 
mounds  where  some  of  them  rest  after  their  passionate 
toil,  their  fierce  and  feverish  wrestle  with  hard-hearted 
fortune.  Once  this  was  Red  Dog  Camp,  or  Mad  Mule 
Gulch,  or  Murderer's  Bar :  ^  now  it  is  only  a  nameless 
canon,  the  counterpart  of  hundreds  of  others  scattered 
over  a  region  five  hundred  miles  long  by  fifty  miles 
wide,  each  one  of  them  all  once  full  to  the  brim  and 
overflowing  with  noisy,  beating,  rushing,  roaring,  mas- 
culine life.  Go  down  and  talk  with  those  ghostly  in- 
habitants of  the  ancient  camp,  and  they  will  set  your 
blood  tingling  with  tales  of  the  past.  Twenty  j^ears, 
thirty  years,  ago  ?     Why,  it  is  centuries  I 

The  saddest  of  all  possible  sights  in  the  old  mining- 
region  is  where  there  are  not  even  half  a  dozen  miners 
to  keep  each  other  company,  but  where,  solitary  and  in 
desolation,  the  last  miner  clings  to  his  former  haunts. 
He  cooks  his  lonesome  meals  in  the  wrecked  and  rotting 
hotel  where  a  quarter  of  a  century  before,  then  young, 
gay,  prosperous,  and  in  his  prime,  he  had  tossed  the 
reins  of  his  livery-team  to  the  obsequious  servant,  and 


1  Names  of  California  camps,  given  in  books  of  travel,  are  not  always 
to  be  trusted:  visitors  expect  an  eccentric  title  for  each  ravine.  But  the 
real  names  were  remarkable  enough;  such  were  the  following:  Loafer 
Hill;  Slapjack  Bar;  Chicken-thief  Flat;  Git-up-and-Git;  Kat-trap  Slide; 
Sweet  Revenge  J  Shirt-tail  Canon;  You  Bet;  Gouge  Eye. 


146  MINING-CAMPS. 

played  billiards  with  the  "boys,"  and  passed  the  hat 
for  a  collection  to  build  the  first  church ;  he  sharpens 
his  battered  pick  at  a  little  forge  under  the  tree  on 
which  he  helped  hang  the  Mexican  who  had  stabbed 
Sailor  Bill  (how  famous  Bill  was  for  songs  and  horn- 
pipes in  the  El  Dorado  saloon  whose  roofless  posts  slant 
in  the  yielding  earth !) ;  he  looks  down  in  the  cailon 
where  vines  and  trees  hide  all  but  the  crumbling  chim- 
ney of  the  house  where  the  "  Rose  of  the  Camp  "  lived, 
sweetening  their  lives  with  a  glimpse  of  her  girlish  grace 
and  purity  as  she  tripped  over  the  long  bridge  to  the 
little  schoolhouse,  and  waved  her  pretty  hand  to  her 
friends  toiling  waist-deep  in  their  claims.  But  that 
was  long  ago :  she  married,  and  went  to  Europe,  and 
is  famous,  he  has  heard ;  now  the  bridge  has  fallen  into 
the  torrent,  and  snow-storms  have  shattered  the  school- 
house,  and  the  end  of  the  story  is  very  near. 

Not  one  of  all  the  thousands  who  hurried  into  the 
new  camps  of  '49,  who  developed  and  over-crowded 
the  old  camps  of  '48,  ever  paused  to  consider  how  these 
camps  would  look  if  deserted ;  nor,  if  some  prospector's 
tale  carried  them  on  a  frenzied  gold-chase,  did  they 
glance  back  at  the  camp  they  left.  The  record  of  the 
gold-returns  is  sufficiently  suggestive.  In  1849  the 
miners  took  out,  by  official  record,  twenty-three  million 
dollars;  in  1850  they  increased  this  yield  to  fifty  million 
dollars;  and  the  probabilities  are  that  twenty-five  per 
cent  of  the  gold  discovered  was  not  reported  at  San 
Francisco.  By  the  summer  of  1850,  there  was  forty 
million  dollars  in  taxable  real  estate  in  San  Francisco, 
and  as  much  more  in  the  way  of  personal  property,^ 
most  of  which  had  grown  directly  or  indirectly  from  the 

1  "  Gold  in  California."    International  Review,  October,  1880. 


THE  GOLDEN   PRIME  OF   '49.  147 

mining-interest.  Yet,  only  four  years  before,  Webster 
had  said,  in  the  United-States  Senate,  that  California 
was  worthless  except  as  a  naval  station. 

The  typical  camp  of  the  golden  prime  of  '49. was 
flush,  lively,  reckless,  flourishing,  and  vigorous.  Saloons 
and  gambling-houses  abounded;  buildings  and  whole 
streets  grew  up  like  mushrooms,  almost  in  a  night. 
Every  man  carried  a  buckskin  bag  of  gold-dust,  and  it 
was  received  as  currency  at  a  dollar  a  pinch.  Every 
one  went  armed,  and  felt  fully  able  to  protect  himself. 
A  stormy  life  ebbed  and  flowed  through  the  town.  In 
the  camp,  gathered  as  of  one  household,  under  no  law 
but  that  of  their  own  making,  were  men  from  North, 
South,  East,  and  West,  and  from  nearlj^  every  country 
of  Europe,  Asia,  South  America.  They  mined,  traded, 
gambled,  fought,  discussed  camp  affairs ;  they  paid  fifty 
cents  a  drink  for  their  whiskey,  and  fifty  dollars  a  barrel 
for  their  flour,  and  thirty  dollars  apiece  for  butcher- 
knives  with  which  to  pick  gold  from  the  rock-crevices.^ 

"  They  talked,'*  as  one  who  knew  them  well  has  written,  "  a  lan- 
guage half  English  and  half  Mexican.  They  learned  to  wash  and 
mend  their  own  clothes,  and  bake  their  own  bread,  and  cook  their 
own  pork  and  beans.  They  were  hardy,  generous,  careless,  brave ; 
they  risked  their  lives  for  each  other,  and  made  and  lost  fortunes, 
and  went  on  lonely  prospect  tours  on  foot  among  the  snow-peaks, 
and  grew  old  and  feeble,  and  found  that  a  new  race  that  knew 
them  not  had  arisen  in  the  State  they  created.  They  died  lonely 
deaths,  or  perished  by  violence,  pioneers  to  the  last." 

As  about  the  typical  camp  there  were  too  often  loss, 
decay,  and  final  desertion,  so  about  the  typical  pioneer 
there  were  too  often  loneliness  and  sorrow,  pathos  and 
heroism.     A  few  camps  were  germs  of  towns  and  cities. 

1  This  sum  was  paid  for  a  time  by  the  miners  in  some  districts  of 
Tuolumne. 


148  MINING-CAMPS. 

A  few  pioneers  prospered  greatly,  and  settled  down  into 
leading  positions  in  the  State  their  labors  had  helped  to 
create.  But  the  vital  waste  and  destruction  of  the 
struggle  overwhelm  the  observer  with  pity.  The  mines 
were  no  place  for  weaklings ;  even  strong,  healthy,  and 
earnest  men  often  sank  beneath  the  wearing  excitement 
of  that  fervid  life.  But  these  rough  and  busy  men, 
whose  lives  were  so  often  only  the  saddest  of  tragedies, 
established  and  enforced  a  code  of  ethics  governing 
their  relations  with  each  other  and  their  property  rights, 
enforced  justice  though  without  written  law,  and  in  the 
end  created  a  system  of  jurisprudence  that  has  won 
the  approval  and  indorsement  of  the  highest  courts  of 
the  land.  Sturdy,  keen-witted,  courageous,  independ- 
ent, they  left  the  impress  of  sterling  natures  upon  all 
their  primitive  institutions. 

As  we  have  seen,  there  were  times  in  almost  every 
camp  when  the  rowdy  element  came  near  ruling,  and 
only  the  powerful  and  hereditary  organizing  instincts  of 
the  Americans  present  ever  brought  order  out  of  chaos. 
In  nearly  every  such  crisis,  there  were  men  of  the 
right  stamp  at  hand,  to  say  the  brave  word,  or  do  the 
brave  act ;  to  appeal  to  Saxon  love  of  fair  play,  to  seize 
the  murderer,  or  to  defy  the  mob.  Side  by  side  in  the 
same  gulch,  working  in  claims  of  eight  paces  square, 
were,  perhaps,  fishermen  from  Cape  Ann,  loggers  from 
Penobscot,  farmers  from  the  Genesee  Valley,  physi- 
cians from  the  prairies  of  Iowa,  lawyers  from  Maryland 
and  Louisiana,  college-graduates  from  Yale,  Harvard, 
and  the  University  of  Virginia.  From  so  variously 
mingled  elements,  came  that  terribly  exacting  mining- 
camp  society,  which  tested  with  pitiless  and  unerring 
tests  each  man's  individual  manhood,  discovering  his 
intrinsic  worth  or  weakness  with  almost  superhuman 


THE  GOLDEN   PRIME   OF   '49.  149 

precision,  until  at  last  the  ablest  and  best  men  became 
leaders.  They  fought  their  way  to  the  surface  through 
fierce  oppositions,  and  with  unblenching  resolution  sup- 
pressed crime,  and  built  up  homes  in  the  region  they 
had  learned  to  love. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

EVIDENCE  CONCERNING  LAW  AND  ORDER  IN  THE 
CAMPS. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  testimony  of  visitors,  trav- 
ellers, and  government  officials,  and  of  miners  who 
have  since  published  their  observations  upon  the  con- 
dition of  the  camps  during  the  flush  period.  Were 
these  camps  orderly  and  well-governed  ?  What  impres- 
sion did  they  make  upon  impartial  strangers  ? 

Ryan,  in  his  "Personal  Adventures  in  California," 
says,— 

"  The  miners  dwelt  together  in  no  distrust  of  one  another,  and 
left  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  gold-dust  in  their  tents  while 
they  were  absent  digging.  ...  A  determination  to  punish  rob- 
bery seemed  to  have  been  come  to,  by  all,  as  a  measure  essential 
to  security." 

This  was  written  of  the  camps  of  1850,  as  a  result 
of  wide  observation;  and  he  elsewhere  alludes  to  the 
admirable  manner  in  which  the  camps  had  been  con- 
ducted from  the  first. 

We  have  before  alluded  to  Colonel  Mason's  report 
on  the  mines  of  '48.  Governor  Riley,  deciding  to  see 
the  mines  for  himself,  left  Monterey,  July  5,  1849,  with 
Major  Canby,  Captain  Wescott,  Captain  Halleck,  Lieu- 
tenant Derby,  and  others,  proceeded  to  Sacramento,  and 
thence  to  the  principal  camps.  After  his  return  he 
wrote  to  Washington  as  follows :  — 

160 


LAW   AND   ORDER   IN  THE  CAMPS.  151 

"Order  and  regularity  were  preserved  throughout  almost  the 
entire  extent  of  the  mineral  district.  In  each  little  settlement  or 
tented  town,  the  miners  have  elected  their  local  alcaldes  and  con- 
stables, whose  judicial  decisions  and  official  acts  are  sustained  by 
the  people,  and  enforced  with  much  regularity  and  energy." 

In  another  place  he  says,  — 

"  The  alcaldes  have  probably,  in  some  cases,  exercised  judicial 
powers  never  conferred  upon  them  by  law ;  but  the  general  results 
have  been  favorable  ...  to  the  dispensation  of  justice." 

The  alcalde  system,  as  adopted  and  modified  by  the 
miners,  was  all  that  fell  under  Governor  Riley's  obser- 
vation :  but  there  were  camps  in  the  region  he  visited 
which  were  governed,  perhaps  quite  as  well,  thougli 
in  a  much  more  primitive  manner,  —  camps  ruled  by 
a  chosen  committee,  to  whom  all  authority  was  in- 
trusted ;  or  governed  only  by  the  irregular  assemblage 
of  the  miners,  which  we  have  before  compared  to  a 
folk-moot.  Governor  Riley  did  not  inquire  into  the 
minutiae  of  organization.  He  only  knew,  that,  copying 
after  the  system  of  the  old  Spanish  pueblos  of  the  coast, 
the  miners  in  the  longer-established  camps  had  chosen, 
and  were  obeying,  alcaldes ;  and,  to  assist  these  alcaldes 
in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  had  ingrafted  upon 
the  system  the  town-constableship  of  New-England 
villages. 

Bayard  Taylor  was  an  appreciative  observer  of  the 
camps.  In  his  "  Eldorado  "  he  descri^bes  their  political 
organization.  "There  was,"  he  says,  "much  order  and 
regularity.  The  miners  had  elected  one  of  their  num- 
ber alcalde  (this  was  on  the  Mokelumne),  before  whom 
all  culprits  were  tried."  He  says  that  several  persons 
had  been  severely  punished;  some  had  their  ears 
cropped,  and  others  were  whipped  soundly.     "It  was 


152  MINING-CAMPS. 

a  Spartan  severity  of  discipline,"  all  of  which  Mr.  Tay- 
lor fully  approves.     In  another  place  he  says,  — 

"  The  disposition  to  maintain  order,  and  secure  the  rights  of  all 
men,  were  shown  throughout  the  mining-districts.  In  the  absence 
of  law,  the  people  met,  and  adopted  rules  for  mutual  security. 
.  .  .  There  had  been,"  he  said,  "previous  to  1849,  twelve  or 
fifteen  executions  for  murder  and  for  large  thefts.  .  .  .  Alcaldes 
were  elected,  who  had  power  to  decide  all  disputes  or  complaints, 
and  summon  juries.  When  a  new  placer  was  discovered,  the  first 
thing  done  was  to  elect  officers.  In  a  region  five  hundred  miles 
long,  inhabited  by  a  hundred  thousand  people,  who  had  neither 
locks,  bolts,  regular  laws  of  government,  military  or  civil  protec- 
tion, there  was  as  much  security  to  life  and  property  as  in  any 
State  of  the  Union.  The  rights  of  each  digger  were  definitely 
marked  out  and  observed." 

These  words  of  Bayard  Taylor's  were  written  of  the 
camps  of  1850  and  1851,  but  apply  with  almost  equal 
force  to  the  camps  of  1849.  Everywhere  in  southern, 
central,  and  northern  camps,  he  reports  a  reign  of  order, 
under  laws  of  their  own  creation ;  and  the  sight  fills 
him  with  admiration. 

One  of  the  speakers  before  the  First  State  Constitu- 
tional Convention  addressed  that  body  in  October, 
1849,  upon  the  permanent  character  of  the  towns  built 
up  in  the  mining-region,  of  which  he  was  a  resident. 
He  added,  — 

"  Every  glen,  every  ravine,  every  canon,  almost  every  hill-top,  is 
lined  and  covered  with  the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  that 
are  scattered  over  the  whole  country." 

He  proceeded  to  speak  of  their  peaceful  prosperity, 
and  the  constant  investment,  in  the  larger  towns,  of 
capital  dug  from  the  mines.  Other  speakers  before  the 
convention  alluded  to  the  quiet  and  order  preserved 
in  the  placer-region. 


LAW  AND   ORDER   IK   THE  CAMPS.  153 

Governor  Peter  H.  Burnett,  in  his  "Recollections," 
says :  -- 

"  The  miners  were  engaged  in  a  common  pursuit,  and  exposed 
to  common  dangers.  Property  was  almost  held  in  common,  —  a 
practical  socialism  of  a  very  interesting  type." 

Burnett  says  further,  — 

"  We  [the  miners]  had  the  right  to  establish  a  de  facto  govern- 
ment which  would  rest  on  the  same  basis  as  the  provincial  gov- 
ernment of  Oregon.  We  held  a  meeting  at  Sacramento  City  in 
January,  1849,  and  elected  Henry  A.  Schoolcraft  first  magistrate 
and  recorder  for  Sacramento  District." 

Mr.  Burnett  had  then  just  left  the  mining-camps, 
where  he  worked  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of 
1848,  and  had  opened  a  lawyer's  office  in  Sacramento. 
The  leadership  of  ex-miners  was  unquestioned  in  poli- 
tics and  in  society. 

A  vivid  account  of  life  in  the  early  days  is  furnished 
by  Mr.  Frank  Marryat's  "Mountains  and  Molehills." 
He  speaks  of  "Murderer's  Bar,"  with  the  swift  river, 
the  black  obstructing  rocks,  the  village  of  sun-bleached 
canvas;  the  miners,  waist-deep,  toiling  to  turn  the 
course  of  the  river,  others  in  pits  digging  to  bed-rock ; 
some  alone,  some  in  companies ;  all  life,  vigor,  and 
determination.     He  says  in  one  place,  that  — 

"  In  most  mining-villages,  indignation  [over  theft]  was  confined 
to  ordering  the  offender  to  leave,  or  take  the  consequences.  .  .  . 
The  mining-population  was  allowed  to  construct  their  own  laws 
relative  to  the  appropriation  of  claims,  and  the  system  worked 
well.     There  was  no  interference  on  the  part  of  the  Legislature." 

This  observation  of  Mr-.  Marryat's  was  made  a  year 
or  so  after  the  organization  of  State  government,  and, 
as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  remained  true  of  the  mining- 
districts  for  many  years. 


154  MINING-CAMPS. 

•* Every  digging,"  Mr.  Marryat  continues,  "has  its  fixed  rules 
and  by-laws.  All  disputes  are  submitted  to  a  jury  of  resident 
miners.  In  some  cases,  twenty  men  or  so  from  one  camp  are 
met  by  an  equal  number  from  another  camp." 

He  proceeds  to  say  that  disputes  sometimes  arose, 
and  even  demonstrations  with  fire-arms,  but  that  good 
sense  always  prevailed.  He  speaks  of  the  by-laws  of 
each  district  as  recorded  in  the  county  office,  and  as 
sometimes  being  stringent,  ill-defined,  and  conflicting. 
His  own  experience  of  their  practical  workings,  how- 
ever, was  as  follows :  — 

"I  have  had  my  placer-claim  of  ten  feet  square  encroached 
upon.  I  appealed  to  the  crowd ;  and  a  committee  of  three,  being 
at  once  chosen,  measured  it  from  my  stake;  and,  being  found 
correct,  the  jumper  was  ordered  to  confine  himself  to  his  own 
territory,  which  he  always  did." 

Mr.  Marryat's  observations  are  particularly  interest- 
ing on  several  accounts.  He  was  an  English  univer- 
sity man,  and  adept  with  both  pen  and  pencil.  He 
entered  heartily  into  the  spirit  of  life  at  the  placers, 
studying  mining  institutions  with  trained  intellect ;  and 
the  time  he  visited  the  camps  was  after  California  had 
been  divided  into  twenty-seven  counties,  and  county 
government  nominally  established.  Thus  his  state- 
ments regarding  the  amount  of  local  government  which 
each  camp  retained  by  tacit  consent,  and  exercised 
whenever  necessary,  are  of  great  importance.  Com- 
mittees from  different  camps  still  met  in  consultation  : 
informal  appeals  were  still  made  to  the  crowd  to  right 
or  prevent  a  wrong.  In  all  essential  particulars,  the 
camp  was  still  the  "  camp  of  '49." 

As  late  as  1857,  "  Blackwood's  Magazine,"  reviewing 
books  on  California,  and  speaking  of  the  entire  gold-era, 
says,  — 


LAW   AND   ORDER   IN   THE   CAMPS.  155 

"  It  is  an  agreeable  and  unexpected  feature  in  the  mines  them- 
selves, that  order,  justice,  and  courtesy  reign  there."  .  .  . 

And  again :  — 

"  Patches  of  a  few  square  feet,  teeming  with  gold,  are  as  sacred 
as  if  secured  with  title-deeds." 

J.  D.  Borthwick's  "  Three  Years  in  California  "  is  full 
of  choice  material  for  studies  of  this  era.  He  describes 
the  daily  life  of  the  gold-miners ;  tells  us  of  heaps  §f 
gold-bearing  gravel  piled  up  in  some  camps  to  lie  un- 
guarded but  safe  until  the  rainy  season,  having  been 
made  personal  property  by  the  labor  performed  in  heap- 
ing them  together ;  pays  a  hearty  tribute  of  praise  to 
the  universal  spirit  of  hospitality,  —  the  careless  liber- 
ality such  as  led  the  Downieville  miners  to  give  fully 
five  hundred  dollars  in  gold-specimens  to  a  lady  who 
sang  ballads  for  them  at  one  of  the  first  concerts  ever 
held  there.  Mr.  Borthwick  speaks  in  many  places  of 
the  ample  security  afforded  by  the  mining-regulations. 
He  also  seems  to  have  been  struck  by  the  sharply  con- 
trasted social  instincts  arid  methods  of  organization  dis- 
played by  the  American  miners  and  the  French  miners. 
He  says,  in  effect,  that  the  Americans  wandered  about 
the  mountains,  often  as  solitary  as  grizzly  bears,  working 
like  demons,  and  keeping  their  own  counsel  regarding 
their  prospects  or  claims  with  all  the  stolidity  of  Turk- 
ish mutes.  Sometimes  the  American  miner  worked  in 
silence  and  loneliness  upon  a  single  claim,  going  back 
and  forth  night  and  morning,  a  truly  dangerous,  reso- 
lute, and  deliberative  animal.  The  Frenchmen,  on  the 
contrary,  were  never  seen  alone :  their  social  instinct 
was  irrepressible ;  they  went  in  groups  to  their  work, 
and  clustered  together  like  buzzing  bees.  But  when 
our  solitary  and  reflective  Americans  found  quartz  or 


156  MINING-CAMPS. 

gravel  that  they  thought  would  pay  better  to  work 
in  associated  bodies,  they  came  together  at  once  in  a 
way  for  which  the  sociable  Frenchman  showed  slight 
aptitude.  The  Frenchman's  bond  of  union  was  depend- 
ence, not  mutual  confidence:  the  American's  reserve 
was  really  the  source  of  his  power,  and  the  secret 
of  his  supremacy  in  every  camp.  Their  loneliness 
meant  resolution ;  therefore  their  organizations  always 
ipeant  business,  and  accomplished  their  appointed 
work. 

One  of  the  interesting  bits  of  evidence  upon  the 
condition  of  the  camps  of  '49  is  afforded  by  Dr.  J.  B. 
Stillman's  "Seeking  the  Golden  Fleece."  He  says 
there  was  "no  government,  no  law;'*  but  "more  in- 
telligence and  good  feeling  than  in  any  country  I  ever 
saw.  .  .  .  Men  are  valued  for  what  they  are.  .  .  .  One 
feels  that  he  has  a  standing  here  that  it  takes  a  man 
until  he  is  old  and  rich  to  enjoy  at  home."  This 
ignores  the  camp-laws,  as  unauthorized,  but  tacitly  ac- 
knowledges the  good  order  and  peacefulness  prevalent 
in  the  mining-region.  On  the  subject  of  miners'  gen- 
erosity, Mr.  Bacon,  now  an  Idaho  journalist,  and  an 
old  California  miner,  writes  me  as  follows :  — 

"I  have  never  lived  in  any  community  where  there  was  less 
crime,  or  where  people  were  more  charitable,  than  they  were  in  the 
early  mining-camps  of  California.  No  one  was  ever  allowed  to 
suffer  for  necessaries  of  life,  and  nowhere  were  the  sick  neglected. 
I  remember  many  instances  where  a  miner  with  a  broken  consti- 
tution, who  had  become  discouraged  or  unable  to  work,  and  desired 
to  return  to  his  family,  was  sent  home  by  the  miners,  and,  in  addi- 
tion, was  given  one  or  two  thousand  dollars  for  a  '  home-stake.' " 

Theodore  Winthrop,  that  bright,  generous  poet  and 
novelist,  saw  the  same  characteristics  in  the  hearty 
pioneers  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  rejoiced  over  "the 


LAW  AND   ORDER   IN   THE   CAMPS.  157 

rough  sincerity  impressed  upon  people  by  the  life  they 
lead  in  new  countries."  ^ 

Some  of  the  darker  portions  of  the  picture  are  shown 
by  Theodore  J.  Johnson,  in  his  "  Sights  in  the  Gold- 
Region  ; "  and  his  views  deserve  careful  consideration. 

"  The  thirst  for  gold,  and  the  labor  required  to  procure  it,"  he 
says,  "  overruled  all  else,  and  absorbed  every  faculty.  Complete 
silence  reigned  among  the  miners.  They  addressed  not  a  word  to 
each  other  for  hours." 

He  says,  further,  that  although  enduring  great  hard- 
ships, exposure,  and  often  disease,  the  miners  as  a  class 
obtained  only  a  moderate  remuneration.  The  average 
yield  per  miner  was,  he  thought,  only  three  or  four 
dollars  a  day ;  and  not  more  than  one  man  in  a  hundred 
made  a  fortune,  and  invested  it  safely  away  from  the 
mines.  Out  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  who  went 
around  the  Horn,  and  were  at  the  same  camps,  "not  one 
had  great  success."  These  views  regarding  the  average 
yield  of  the  mines  to  each  toiler  are  well  sustained  by 
the  official  reports.  The  five  thousand  miners  of  1848 
averaged  one  thousand  dollars  apiece,  though  many  of 
them  did  not  reach  the  mines  till  very  late  in  the  sea- 
son ;  but  the  hundred  thousand  miners  of  1850  dug  out 
only  half  as  much  proportionately,  working  a  longer  sea- 
son, and  with  far  better  appliances.  The  gold-product 
of  the  State  reached  its  culmination  in  1853,  then  sink- 
ing year  after  year  to  a  point  below  the  total  of  1849, 
but  varying  little  during  the  past  ten  years.  The  in- 
troduction of  capital  and  machinery  has  rendered  it 
impossible  to  estimate  the  amount  that  each  man's 
labor   now   produces.      The   annual   gold-yield   of  the 

1  Theodore  Winthrop,  "  Life  and  Letters."  See  also  his  description 
of  the  "  appalling  activity  "  of  San  Francifeco,  then  the  chief  outfitting 
point  for  all  the  mines;  p.  134. 


158  MINING-CAMPS. 

State  has  been,  for  a  number  of  years,  something  over 
sixteen  million  dollars;  in  1883  it  was  116,500,000. 

Another  very  strong  statement  upon  the  nature  of 
life  in  the  mines  comes  from  Mr.  George  F.  Parsons, 
in  his  Life  of  Marshall,  to  which  we  have  previously 
alluded.     He  says,  — 

"  It  was  a  mad,  furious  race  for  wealth,  in  which  men  lost  their 
identity  ahiiost,  and  toiled  and  wrestled,  and  lived  a  fierce,  riotous, 
wearing,  fearfully  excited  life ;  forgetting  home  and  kindred ;  aban- 
doning old,  steady  habits ;  acquiring  all  the  restlessness,  craving  for 
stimulant,  unscrupulousness,  hardihood,  impulsive  generosity,  and 
lavish  ways,  which  have  puzzled  the  students  of  human  nature  who 
have  undertaken  to  portray  or  to  analyze  that  extraordinary  period." 

He  says  that  a  true  account  of  those  times  would  be 
"  so  wild,  so  incredible,  so  feverish  and  abnormal,"  as 
to  remind  one  rather  of  a  description  of  a  Walpurgis 
Night  than  of  an  era  in  real  life.  In  another  place  we 
have  this  graphic  picture :  — 

"Take  a  sprinkling  of  sober-eyed,  earnest,  shrewd,  energetic 
New-England  business-men :  mingle  with  them  a  number  of  rollick- 
ing sailors,  a  dark  band  of  Australian  convicts  and  cut-throats,  a 
dash  of  Mexican  and  frontier  desperadoes,  a  group  of  hardy  back- 
woodsmen, some  professional  gamblers,  whiskey-dealers,  general 
swindlers,  or  *  rural  agriculturists '  as  Captain  Wragge  styles  them  ; 
and  having  thrown  in  a  promiscuous  crowd  of  broken-down  mer- 
chants, disappointed  lovers,  black  sheep,  unfledged  dry-goods  clerks, 
professional  miners  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  Adullamites 
generally,  stir  up  the  mixture,  season  strongly  with  gold-fever,  bad 
liquors,  faro,  monte,  rouge-et-noir,  quarrels,  oaths,  pistols,  knives, 
dancing,  and  digging,  and  you  have  something  approximating  to 
California  society  in  early  days." 

Statements  such  as  these  concerning  the  overpower- 
ing excitement  of  the  gold-search,  and  its  evil  effects, 
undoubtedly  reveal  a  deep  psychical  truth.  Evil  men 
became   more  evil,  miserly  men   more  miserly,  in  the 


LAW  AND   ORDER   IN   THE  CAMPS.  159 

Sierra  camps.  There  must  have  been  many  to  whose 
souls  this  ''yellow,  glittering,  precious  gold"  was  a 
"most  operant  poison,"  making  "black,  white;  foul, 
fair ;  wrong,  right ;  base,  noble ; "  and  over  whose 
wretched  lives  the  spirit  of  the  exiled,  ill-starred,  man- 
hating  Athenian's  terrible  mockery  prevailed  in  ghastly 
earnest,  until  they  lived  and  died  in  the  bitter  faith 
that  "  this  yellow  slave  "  of  the  exile's  scorn  could  — 

*'  Knit  and  break  religions ;  bless  the  accursed ; 
Make  the  hoar  leprosy  adored ;  place  thieves, 
And  give  them  title,  knee,  and  approbation 
With  senators  on  the  bench." 

All  in  all,  the  most  unfavorable  and  rabidly  pessi- 
mistic account  of  California  and  of  life  in  the  mines, 
that  has  fallen  under  my  observation,  is  Mr.  Hinton  R. 
Helper's  "  Land  of  Gold."  i  Writing  as  late  as  1855, 
he  says  that  the  country  had  "  no  redeeming  features ;  " 
the  land  was  "  a  desert ; "  the  customs  of  the  people 
were  atrocious ;  murders  were  of  daily  occurrence,  and 
men  were  lying  sick  and  uncared-for  in  the  streets  of 
the  towns ;  it  was  the  Nazareth  of  States,  from  which 
nothing  except  evil  could  come.  To  further  prick  the 
"California  bubble,"  Mr.  Helper  offers  such  items  as 
the  following :  — 

Loss  by  fires,  1849-54 $45,870,000 

Loss  by  freshets,  1849-54 1,500,000 

Shipping  lost  on  the  coast 5,060,000 

Total $52,430,000 

This  certainly  seems  to  show  an  astonishing  degree 
of  waste  and  loss.     But  the  table  is  entirely  unreliable. 

1  Land  of  Gold:  Baltimore,  1855.  Printed  for  the  author.  An  in- 
tensely interesting  work,  chiefly  by  reason  of  Mr.  Helper's  unexampled 
talent  for  persistent  pessimism. 


160  MINING-CAMPS. 

It  furnishes  the  separate  items  of  the  fire-losses  which 
go  to  make  up  that  total  of  over  forty-five  million  dol- 
lars, and  by  these  items  we  can  test  its  accuracy.  The 
San  Francisco  fire  of  May  3,  1851,  is  stated  to  have 
caused  a  loss  of  twelve  million  dollars:  Hittell,  a  most 
cautious  writer,  gives  it  as  seven  million  dollars.  The 
Sonora  fire  of  1852  is  stated  to  have  destroyed  property 
worth  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars :  the 
Tuolumne  County  official  directory  places  the  loss  at 
seven  hundred  thousand  dollars.  From  a  multitude  of 
equally  reliable  sources,  tlie  grand  total  of  over  fifty 
million  dollars  appears  to  be  at  least  one-third,  and 
probably  one-half,  too  great. 

From  the  fact  of  Mr.  Helper's  temperamental  bias 
towards  gloomy  views  of  Pacific-coast  life,  manners, 
and  institutions,  his  unexpectedly  favorable  evidence 
regarding  the  miners  gains  a  peculiar  importance. 

"There  is,"  he  remarks,  "more  real  honesty  and  fairness  among 
the  miners  than  among  any  other  class  of  people  in  California. 
Taken  as  a  body,  they  are  a  plain,  straightforward,  hard-working 
set  of  men,  who  attend  to  their  own  business  without  meddling 
with  the  affairs  of  others;  and  I  have  found  as  guileless  hearts 
among  them  as  ever  throbbed  in  mortal  bosom. 

"  Almost  every  bar,"  he  continues,  "  is  governed  by  a  different 
code  of  laws,  and  the  sizes  of  the  claims  vary  according  to  locality. 
In  one  place  a  man  may  hold  twice,  thrice,  or  quadruple  the  num- 
ber of  feet  that  are  allowed  him  in  anotlier.  One-fourth  of  an 
acre  is  an  average-sized  claim." 

Governor  Richard  J.  Oglesby  of  Illinois  was  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  Nevada  County,  in  "the  days  of  '49 
and  '50."  In  a  letter,  published  in  the  history  of  that 
county,  he  says,  — 

"  There  was  very  little  law,  but  a  large  amount  of  good  order  ; 
no  churches,  but  a  great  deal  of  religion ;  no  politics,  but  a  large 


LAW   AND   ORDER   IN   THE   CAMPS.  161 

number  of  politicians;  no  offices,  and,  strange  to  say  for  my  coun- 
trymen, no  office-seekers.  Crime  was  rare,  for  punishment  was 
certain.  I  was  present  one  afternoon,  just  outside  the  city  limits, 
and  saw  with  painful  satisfaction,  as  I  now  remember,  Charley 
Williams  whack  three  of  our  fellow-citizens  over  the  bare  back, 
twenty-one  to  forty  strokes,  for  stealing  a  neighbor's  money.  The 
multitude  of  disinterested  spectators  had  conducted  the  court. 
My  recollection  is  that  there  were  no  attorneys'  fees  or  court- 
charges.  I  think  I  never  saw  justice  administered  with  so  little 
loss  of  time  or  at  less  expense.  There  was  no  more  stealing  in 
Nevada  City  until  society  became  more  settled  and  better  regu- 
lated." 

Among  the  men  who  "prospected"  in  the  Nevada 
mines,  during  1849,  was  the  late  Benjamin  P.  Avery, 
afterwards  editor  of  "The  Overland  Monthly,"  and  for 
some  time  United-States  minister  to  China.  Mr.  Avery, 
and  the  late  Samuel  Williams,  long  literary  editor  of 
"The  San  Francisco  Bulletin,"  were  two  of  the  noblest, 
purest,  and  best-loved  men  ever  connected  with  Pacific- 
coast  journalism ;  and  their  memories  are  kept  green 
throughout  the  State  they  did  so  much  to  develop.  A 
letter  from  Mr.  Avery  printed  in  Bean's  Directory  of 
Nevada  County,  in  1867,  recounts  his  adventures  in  the 
mines,  and  gives  a  graphic  picture  of  "  the  childhood  of 
California."  "  I  started  from  Mormon  Island,"  he  says, 
"late  in  October,  1849;  rode  a  little  white  mule,  with 
pork,  hard-bread,  and  blankets  packed  behind  me." 
He  heard  of  "pound  diggins"  (two  hundred  dollars 
per  day)  near  Caldwell's  Upper  Store,  and  at  Gold 
Run,  in  the  famous  basin  where  Nevada  City  and 
Grass  Valley  now  stand.  There  were  about  a  dozen 
parties  working  the  bars  with  dug-out  cradles  and 
wire  and  rawhide  hoppers.  A  few  tents  were  scattered 
over  the  flat.  The  "  store  "  was  a  square  canvas  shanty, 
where  mouldy  biscuit  sold  for  a  dollar  a  p)ound,  pork 


162  MINING-CAMPS. 

for  two  dollars,  flour  one  dollar,  and  boots  for  six  ounces 
of  gold-dust  per  pair.  He  found  good  prospects,  and 
returned  for  his  comrades.  Evidently  there  was  as  yet 
no  organization  by  which  he  could  secure  a  claim,  and 
hold  it  during  his  absence.  He  seems  to  have  posted 
no  claim,  driven  no  stake ;  and,  when  the  party  re- 
turned, the  ravine  Mr.  Avery  had  prospected  "  was 
occupied  from  end  to  end  by  long-haired  Missourians 
who  were  taking  out  their  piles."  They  had  organized, 
and  staked  out  claims  of  thirty  feet  along  the  ravine ; 
and  found  them  so  profitable  that  "many  a  long-tom 
party  took  a  quart  tin  pail  full  of  gold-dust  to  their 
camp  at  night."  The  isolation  of  the  place  is  suffi- 
ciently shown  by  the  fact  that  "  it  cost  two  dollars  and 
a  half  to  get  a  letter  to  or  from  Sacramento."  Mr. 
Avery  afterwards  prospected  "in  the  savage  wilds  of 
the  Middle  Yuba,  where  only  the  grizzly  and  wildcat 
roamed  the  lofty  purple  ridge,  four  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea."  Eight  years  later  he  was  editor  and  proprie- 
tor of  a  newspaper  published  there,  in  the  midst  of 
villages,  churches,  schoolhouses,  gardens,  vineyards, 
and  hydraulic  mines. 

An  unvarnished  account  of  pioneer  experiences  is  to 
be  found  in  Lawson  B.  Patterson's  "  Twelve  Years  in 
the  Mines  of  California."  Arriving  in  canvas-built 
Sacramento,  July  29,  1849,  the  author  set  out,  on  foot, 
for  Mormon  Camp,  where  the  early  miners  had  taken 
out  over  a  million  of  dollars.  He  afterwards  pros- 
pected far  into  the  wilds  of  El  Dorado.  "  George- 
town Camp"  contained  several  hundred  tents,  but 
there  was  not  a  single  woman  in  the  district.  "  Hud- 
son Gulch,"  in  the  same  region,  "  is  only  three  hundred 
yards  long,  but  the  first  time  it  was  worked  it  paid  over 
fifteen  hundred  thousand  dollars,"  and  has  been  worked 


LAW   AND   ORDER   IN   THE   CAMPS.  163 

over  and  over  perhaps  a  dozen  times  since.  American 
miners  began  to  find  the  need  of  business  organization ; 
and  in  1850  and  1851  a  "company  of  one  hundred 
members  tunnelled  in  Cement  Hill."  They  did  most 
of  their  own  work,  and  ran  four  distinct  tunnels  far 
into  the  solid  rock  before  they  pierced  the  basin  of  au- 
riferous gravel  whose  existence  they  suspected.  Their 
association  was  reduced  to  six  members,  then  rose  to 
twenty,  before  success  came.  The  total  expenditure 
was  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and 
yet  the  results  paid  well.  Associations  of  miners  ran 
twenty  different  tunnels  into  "Mameluke  Hill,"  and 
sank  many  deep  shafts,  taking  out  over  thirty-five  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  The  organization  of  the  placer- 
camps  was  already  leading  to  personal  association  for 
working  the  deeper  deposits. 

We  find  notes  from  a  careful  observer  of  mining-life 
in  E.  S.  Capron's  "  History  of  California."  He  tells  us 
that  the  miners  are  mostly  "persons  in  the  humbler 
walks  of  life,"  yet  there  are  "  no  inconsiderable  num- 
ber connected  with  the  learned  professions.  Whoever 
attends  one  of  their  miners'  meetings  will  be  convinced 
that  neither  the  fools  nor  the  drones  go  to  the  mines. 
Let  the  visitor  wend  his  dark  way  into  the  mountain 
drift,  or  clamber  over  heaps  of  rocks  and  earth,  and 
leap  wide  artificial  drains,  or  go  to  some  river  where  a 
deep,  broad  eddy  has  allured  the  hopeful  miner,  or 
travel  over  miles  of  upturned  earth  to  where  a  solitary 
toiler  is  at  work  under  the  exhausting  sun,  and  he  will 
meet  the  grave  divine,  the  skilful  physician,  the  shrewd 
lawyer,  the  professor,  the  philosopher,  the  gentleman 
of  leisure,  and  the  student,  as  well  as  the  farmer,  me- 
chanic, and  common  laborer.  .  .  .  Their  time  is  es- 
teemed too  precious  to  hunt,  fish,  or  cultivate  the  soil. 


164  MINING-CAMPS. 

.  .  .  Vagabond  Mexicans,  outlawed  at  home,  make  the 
miners  their  frequent  victims." 

Of  mining  laws  and  customs,  Mr.  Capron  gives  a  tol- 
erably accurate  account.  He  says  that  the  miners  in 
public  meetings  had  established  courts  "  summary  and 
signal  in  their  proceedings ;  "  and  that  "  their  jurisdic- 
dion  embraced  all  actions  and  proceedings,  civil  and 
criminal.  In  most  cases,  the  presiding  officer  was  an 
elected  alcalde,  aided  by  a  sheriff."  The  spectators 
constituted  the  only  court  of  appeals.  Annual  meet- 
ings of  the  miners  regulated  all  laws  regarding  claims. 
The  size  of  claims  averaged  sixty  by  one  hundred  feet, 
and  they  were  numbered  and  registered.  In  earlier 
times  meetings  were  held  much  oftener  than  once  a 
year,  and  the  great  body  of  "  local  mining-law "  had 
been  thus  created.  The  "  imperious  necessity  for  these 
enactments  "  was  universally  recognized. 

Quotations  might  easily  be  made  at  much  greater 
length,  and  from  many  more  writers.  Everywhere  we 
find,  among  observers  of  mining-life,  testimony  to  the 
success  of  the  system  of  self-government  adopted  in 
the  camps;  and,  in  no  less  degree,  testimony  to  the 
energy  and  simplicity  of  the  miners  themselves.  Some 
few  among  these  observers  give  instances  of  abuse  of 
mining-courts,  of  camp-justice  that  had  for  the  moment 
degenerated  into  mob-rule.  Cases  are  given  where 
men's  lives  were  saved  by  the  prompt  and  cool  courage 
of  a  few  persons  who  insisted  on  another  trial,  or 
pointed  out  defects  in  the  evidence.  But  we  shall  hear 
more  of  these  things  hereafter,  in  studying  the  local 
history  of  some  of  the  notable  camps.  The  main  point 
to  remember,  so  far,  is  the  favorable  impression  made 
upon  so  many  different  writers,  English,  German,  and 
American. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM:  EARLY  AND  SUCCESSFUL  CAMP 
ORGANIZATIONS. 

Reminiscences  of  the  pioneers  of  California  often 
drift  into  print.  Many  a  book,  justly  famous,  has  been 
hammered  out  of  the  virgin  gold  of  stories  told  around 
the  camp-fire  by  men  who  were  a  part  of  that  eventful 
period.  A  number  of  pioneers,  some  of  them  leaders, 
some  of  them  of  the  uncounted  thousands  who  only 
followed,  have  written  me,  giving,  to  their  best  ability, 
accounts  of  the  organization  of  various  mining-camps. 
Their  recollections  are  often  hazy  upon  definite  points ; 
but  they  all  agree  as  to  the  informality  and  celerity  of 
early  proceedings,  and  the  high  degree  of  good  order 
secured  in  every  camp,  without  exception. 

A  gentleman,  once  a  pioneer  citizen  of  Marysville, 
before  the  famous  Briggs  orchard  was  planted,  or  Yuba 
County  organized,  writes,  saying  that  he  was  among 
the  first  of  the  miners  "  in  quite  a  number  of  migrat- 
ing camps  which  proved  evanescent,  and  disappeared 
with  the  swift  current  of  events,"  but  "were  well 
governed  while  they  lasted."  In  one  case  he  and  a 
companion  "  found  pay-dirt  in  a  canon  which  sloped  to 
the  rushing  Yuba,"  then  a  clear  and  beautiful  river. 
Here  they  toiled  for  several  days,  and  were  doing  well, 
when,  one  morning,  they  were  suddenly  visited  by  a 
delegation  of  miners  from  a  neighboring  camp,  where 

165 


166  MINING-CAMPS. 

the  report  of  lucrative  discoveries  in  the  new  gulch 
had  been  circulated  by  men  who  had  climbed  the 
hills  in  search  of  a  stray  pack-mule.  The  visitors,  six 
or  eight  in  number,  proposed  to  organize  a  new  camp, 
and  share  the  "  find."  A  consultation  was  held ;  and  it 
was  decided  that  each  miner  should  be  allowed  to  own 
and  mine  a  strip  of  land  ten  feet  wide  on  the  river, 
and  three  hundred  feet  deep.  Our  friend  and  his  com- 
panion were  in  the  minority,  and  could  not  have  ob- 
jected had  they  wished ;  but  the  plan  was  so  entirely  in 
accordd,nce  with  the  usual  custom,  —  the  unwritten  law 
of  older  camps,  —  that  they  yielded  a  ready  and  cheer- 
ful acquiescence.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  they  were 
the  discoverers  of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  gulch,  it 
was  unanimously  agreed  that  |:hey  should  have  first 
choice  of  ground ;  that  is,  the  privilege  of  abandoning 
the  location  already  made,  and  of  taking  up  any  other 
claim  on  the  gulch.  In  -many  districts,  they  would 
have  been  allowed  two  claims  apiece  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  their  rights  as  prospectors,  but  first  choice  was 
quite  as  often  the  rule.  In  closing  his  narrative,  this 
gentleman  says  that  "there  was  seldom  or  never  any 
difficulty,  because  such  a  spirit  of  fair  play  actuated 
the  miners  of  '49."  ^ 

Another  gentleman,  a  graduate  of  Yale,^  says,  in  the 
course  of  a  highly  interesting  letter,  that  he  "  ought  to 
know  something  about  it,"  for  he  "  began  to  work  at 
mining  when  there  wils  not  even  a  custom,  so  that  a 
man  hardly  objected  to  your  digging  close  beside  him 
so  long  as  you  left  him  room  to  swing  a  pick." 


1  This  pioneer  was  Mr.  "William  C.  Dougherty,  now  (1884)  deputy 
postmaster  of  San  Francisco.  He  was  once  sheriff  of  Yolo,  and  was 
well  known  throughout  the  northern  mines. 

2  Mr.  C.  T.  Blake  of  San  Francisco. 


ILLUSTRATIONS   FROM  CAMP   ORGANIZATIONS.      167 

"  A  little  later,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  I  was  present  at  a  miners' 
meeting  near  Illinois  Town,  which  was  called  together  simply  by 
sending  notices  through  a  district  four  or  five  miles  square.  My 
recollection  is,  that  there  was  nothing  done  of  any  importance,  as 
there  were  so  many  clashing  interests  that  we  could  decide  upon 
nothing  which  suited  everybody  concerned." 

The  Anglo-Saxon  idea  of  compromise  as  the  basis  of 
all  political  action  could  not  be  more  clearly  shown 
than  in  the  above  statement.  At  a  subsequent  meeting, 
they  doubtless  settled  upon  some  scheme  that  was  the 
best  that  could  be  done  under  the  circumstances ;  that, 
as  far  as  possible,  suited  everybody.  Americans  were 
the  only  class  of  miners  who  recognized  this  principle 
as  essential  to  any  harmonious  organization. 

Our  correspondent,  in  speaking  of  the  mining-camps 
in  which  at  various  times  he  lived  and  labored,  says 
that  they  "  were  mostly  of  limited  size,  say  a  small  canon 
and  its  tributary  ravines,  or  a  ridge  between  two  canons, 
or  a  river-bar."  A  mining-region  of  great  extent,  like 
Georgetown,  Placerville,  Coloma,  or  Nevada,  "might 
contain  numerous  districts  with  entirely  different  laws. 
The  work  of  mining,  and  its  environment  and  conditions, 
were  so  different  in  different  places,  that  the  laws  and 
customs  of  the  miners  had  to  vary  even  in  adjoining 
districts."  Nor  were  the  laws  of  any  district  permanent  ; 
they  had  to  be  changed  from  time  to  time,  as  the  dis- 
trict came  to  be  "re-worked."  This  re-working  of  a 
district  increased  the  size  of  a  claim.  With  rich  virgin 
soil,  ten  or  twenty  feet  frontage  was  a  large  claim ;  but 
the  same  gulch  when  being  worked  over  for  perhaps 
the  fifth  time,  for  what  predecessors  had  been  unable  to 
obtain,  was  divided  up  into  claims  of  one  or  two  hun- 
dred feet  frontage.  The  ground  worked  at  first  by 
placer-miners  with  pick  and  pan,  was  again  sifted  and 


168  MINING-CAMPS. 

searched  by  rocker  and  long-tom  process ;  then,  perhaps, 
by  ground-sluicing ;  and  lastly,  by  various  forms  of  the 
hydraulic  process,  the  entire  gulch,  where  dozens  of 
small  claims  had  once  existed,  passing  under  one  owner- 
ship. 

"  Almost  every  mining-district,"  our  correspondent  writes,  "  kept 
written  records  from  nearly  the  beginning,  as  claims  had  to  be 
registered ;  but  most  of  these  records  have  been  burned  in  the  in- 
evitable fires  which  have  swept  over  almost  every  mining-town  in 
California." 

Some  of  the  mining-counties  of  California,  whose 
county-seats  are  towns  that  have  grown  from  little 
mining-camps,  are  unable  to  show  any  historical  records 
of  earlier  date  than  1851.  The  lesser  and  migratory 
camps  carried  on  most  of  their  proceedings  without 
any  written  records  or  documents  of  any  sort  what- 
ever. 

Notes  sent  by  a  California  fruit-grower  ^  describe  his 
experiences  in  the  mines.  The  only  officer  known  in  his 
camp  was  a  recorder  of  claims,  elected  by  the  miners. 
His  duties  appear  to  have  been  clerical  merely :  the  real 
business  of  the  camp  was  transacted  in  open  meeting 
by  the  assembled  miners,  who  tried  all  criminal  cases 
and  disputes  over  claims,  choosing  a  chairman,  and  vot- 
ing viva  voce.  He  never  knew  the  miners  of  one 
camp  to  trespass  upon  the  territory  belonging  to  another 
camp.  Difficulties  of  any  sort  were  extremely  rare. 
The  camp  being  in  a  dry  region,  entirely  dependent 
upon  the  water-ditches  for  working  the  claims,  one  of 
the  district-laws  was  that  all  claims  left  idle  a  certain 
number  of  days  after  mining  could  be  commenced,  were 
considered  to  have  been   abandoned.     Here  we   have 

1  B.  D.  T.  Clough,  of  Alameda  County,  California. 


ILLUSTRATIONS   FROM  CAMP   ORGANIZATIONS.      169 

hints  of  what  was  afterwards  developed  into  a  complete 
and  exact  system  of  riparian  regulations. 

An  account  of  the  organization  of  Gold  Hill  Camp 
has  been  secured  through  the  kindness  of  a  California 
friend,^  who  interviewed  an  old  miner  named  Morey, 
and  questioned  him  upon  various  features  of  interest. 
The  camp  occupied  a  gulch  and  the  adjoining  hill- 
sides, in  the  western  part  of  Nevada  County,  and  was 
first  prospected  by  several  miners  early  in  1850,  the 
year  that  witnessed  such  surprising  growth  throughout 
all  that  region.  A  few  hours'  labor  convinced  the  dis- 
coverers that  the  royal  metal  was  there  in  paying  quan- 
tities, and  they  pitched  their  tent  on  the  bank.  Soon 
the  news  spread ;  and  within  a  week  there  were  fifteen 
or  twenty  men  at  work  in  the  low,  gravelly  bed  of  the 
creek.  At  first  the  camp  had  no  organization  or  gov- 
ernment, and  every  man's  conduct  conformed  to  his  own 
ideas  of  right  and  justice.  Each  miner  had  chosen  a 
spot  to  work  in,  and  no  question  of  encroachment  could 
possibly  arise  until  their  widening  circle  of  operations 
began  to  approach  each  other.  About  the  close  of  the 
first  w^eek  after  the  establishment  of  the  camp,  the  near 
approach  of  two  miners'  operations  caused  a  dispute 
about  the  size  of  claims.  One  of  the  miners  consid- 
ered his  rights  infringed  upon ;  and,  a  few  days  later, 
after  a  good  deal  of  talk,  his  friends  circulated  an  in- 
formal verbal  request  through  the  camp,  whose  popula- 
tion had  by  that  time  increased  to  fifty  or  more,  asking 
for  a  miners'  meeting  in  the  evening.  They  all  felt 
that  sooner  or  later  definite  laws  must  be  adopted 
for  the  government  of  the  camp,  or  disorder  would 
prevail.     The   single  question   that   had   arisen   could 

1  Rev.  W.  F.  B.  Lynch,  of  Centreville,  Alameda  County,  Cal.;  former 
county  superintendent  of  schools. 


170  MINING-CAMPS. 

easily  be  settled  by  arbitration,  but  they  must  have 
some  general  rules  regarding  claims. 

When  the  miners  of  the  new  camp  assembled,  one 
of  their  number  called  the  meeting  to  order,  and  nomi- 
nated a  permanent  chairman,  who  was  at  once  elected. 
The  chairman  then  stated  that  there  had  beeu  a  little 
trouble  about  claims,  and  might  easily  be  more.  They 
could  no  longer  let  matters  take  their  own  course,  but 
must  make  a  serious  effort  to  get  the  camp  into  shape. 
Its  bounds  were  then  established,  making  it  about 
three  miles  in  length,  and  nearly  two  miles  in  width. 
A  few  regulations  were  made  abuut  the  size  of  claims ; 
some  informal  talk  was  indulged  in  regarding  roughs 
and  thieves;  and  the  meeting  adjourned,  to  re-assem- 
ble whenever  called  together  by  the  chairman,  who  was 
regarded  as  continued  in  office,  and,  in  fact,  as  the  head 
of  the  camp,  until  such  time  as  a  new  election  took 
place.  At  subsequent  meetings,  some  further  difficul- 
ties about  claims  were  settled  by  vote  ;  and  the  punish- 
ment of  several  thefts  was  fixed  in  the  same  way. 

This  camp  never  had  a  recorder  or  a  jury,  either  of 
six  or  of  twelve.  The  whole  meeting  constituted  the 
jury ;  their  decisions  were  final,  and  their  punishments 
immediate  in  execution.  The  chairman  simply  named 
such  miners  as  he  thought  sufficient  to  "  carry  out  the 
sentence  of  this  meeting."  Every  man  in  the  camp 
was  liable  to  be  called  upon  to  act  as  an  executive 
officer ;  and  each  law-abiding  citizen  of  the  camp  was 
a  public  prosecutor,  unless  he  had  been  expressly  ap- 
pointed to  defend  the  prisoner.  Meetings  assembled 
whenever  an  offence  had  been  committed,  and  disbanded 
as  soon  as  it  had  been  punished.  This  crude  but  effi- 
cient law  gave  general  satisfaction  until  the  civil  and 
criminal  law  of  the  State  stepped  in  to  take  its  place, 


ILLUSTRATIONS   FROM   CAMP   ORGANIZATIONS.      171 

and  Gold  Hill  Canon  became  a   small   and   lessening 
village  in  one  of  the  townships  of  the  county .^ 

One  of  the  Nevada-county  pioneers  writes  of  the 
beginnings  of  Rough  and  Ready  Camp.  The  ravine 
was  "  located  "  in  1849  by  a  company  of  ten  persons, 
who  were  followed  by  another  similar  company;  and 
the  two  parties  tried  to  maintain  a  monopoly  of  the 
gnlch.  One  of  the  leaders  went  to  the  Atlantic  States, 
and  hired  men  to  work  for  his  company;  but  during 
his  absence  the  influx  of  miners,  who  paid  no  regard 
whatever  to  the  extensive  claims  of  the  first  settlers, 
swept  every  thing  before  it.  In  September,  1850,  there 
were  five  hundred  miners  at  work  in  the  gulch,  and 
they  had  staked  it  out  from  end  to  end  with  claims  of 
the  ordinary  size.  Yet  there  was  "  no  trouble,  no  shoot- 
ing, or  difficulty  of  any  sort ; "  the  monopoly  scheme 
had  failed,  and  that  was  the  end  of  it  all.  Some  of 
its  members  secured  claims  for  themselves,  and  some 
were  compelled  to  buy  interests  in  claims  already  taken 
up.  All  the  camps  of  this  period  rose  and  fell  in 
population  with  a  surprising  rapidity.  At  Gold  Flat 
there  were  two  cabins  in  August,  1850 ;  in  July,  1851, 
over  three  hundred  miners  were  at  work  there  ;  in  1852 
the  place  was  abandoned.  Washington  Camp,  settled 
in  1849,  contained  a  thousand  miners  within  one  year ; 
and  during  the  winter  of  1850-51,  over  three  thousand 
men  were  at  work  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  Moore's 
Flat  diggings,  within  a  year  from  their  discovery,  grew 
into  a  camp  of  five  hundred  miners ;  Orleans  Flat,  into 
one  of  six  hundred.     Grass  Valley  had  fifteen  cabins  in 

1  The  township  of  California  is  not  like  the  township  of  New  Eng- 
land. It  is  much  larger,  often  containing  three  hundred  square  miles. 
It  only  elects  road-supervisors  and  constables,  and  these  only  on  the 
county  ticket,  and  has  a  proportionate  vote  in  the  county  board  of 
supervisors. 


172  MINING-CAMPS. 

October,  1850,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  by  March,  1851 : 
four  years  Liter,  its  population  was  three  thousand  five 
hundred.  In  each  of  these  camps,  organization  kept 
pace  with  the  growth  of  population ;  and  there  was 
never  any  serious  disorder. 

A  pioneer  of  1849,  who,  after  many  wanderings 
among  the  camps  new  and  old,  has  settled  down  as  the 
editor  of  a  Boise  City  newspaper,^  lays  great  stress,  in 
his  reminiscences,  upon  the  law  and  order  maintained 
with  little  difiQculty  in  the  camps  of  California.  In 
his  experience,  all  persons  who  attended  a  meeting 
were  allowed  to  take  part  in  its  deliberations,  whether 
residents  of  that  particular  district  or  not.  If  it  was 
a  criminal  case  that  the  court  had  assembled  to  con- 
sider, the  accused  was  granted  counsel,  both  sides  were 
heard,  and  a  vote  was  taken.  In  some  instances  the 
amount  of  punishment  awarded  was  excessive,  but  it 
usually  inclined  towards  mercy's  side.  In  one  case, 
in  the  little  Sierra  camp  in  which  he  dwelt,  a  meeting 
was  held  to  try  an  Irishman  and  a  Dutchman  on  a 
charge  of  stealing  an  old  shovel  and  pick  from  a  claim 
where  they  had  been  left  by  the  owner  to  hold  posses- 
sion for  him  ;  the  rule  of  the  district  being  that  all 
claims  were  forfeited  so  soon  as  the  tools  were  removed. 
Tliey  were  convicted  on  the  evidence  of  witnesses  who 
saw  them  carry  the  tools  off.  Their  plea  was,  that  the 
tools  were  so  old  and  worthless  that  they  supposed 
no  one  else  wanted  them.  But  the  claim,  it  was  an- 
swered, by  that  act,  through  no  fault  of  its  owners, 
had  been  thrown  open  to  the  next  prospector ;  and 
therein  lay  the  guilt  of  the  accused,  since  they  were 
fully  aware  of  the  law  of  the  camp.     They  were  there- 

1  Mr.  D.  Bacon,  editor  Boise  City  (Idaho)  Republican. 


ILLUSTRATIONS   FROM  CAMP   ORGANIZATIONS.      173 

fore  sentenced  to  be  whipped,  and  expelled  from  the 
diggings.  One  of  them  received  a  portion  of  his  lashes, 
but  a  motion  was  then  made  and  carried  to  remit  the 
remainder;  and  the  two  men  were  escorted  to  the 
border  of  the  camp,  and  told  to  seek  fresh  pastures. 
The  miners'  meeting  then  gravely  and  earnestly  ad- 
vised the  owners  of  the  claim  to  be  careful  and  leave 
better  tools  there  another  time,  so  that  the  object  of 
so  leaving  them  might  be  indisputable. 

After  giving  various  regulations  about  the  size  of  a 
claim,  similar  in  their  leading  features  to  those  pre- 
viously spoken  of,  this  correspondent  says  that  this 
method  avoided  endless  litigation  ;  and  that  the  system 
of  later  years,  adopted  in  the  newer  Territories  such  as 
Idaho  and  Montana,  which  allows  a  man  to  hold  twenty 
acres  of  valuable  mineral-ground,  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  others,  has  produced  bitter  fruit.  The  smaller  plots 
of  the  California  miners  were  much  better  for  the  com- 
munity. All  were  contented,  and  none  were  hopelessly 
poor.  A  group  of  California  prospectors,  in  those 
early  days  of  which  we  are  writing,  seldom  attempted 
to  determine  the  superficial  extent  of  the  placer,  and 
then  divide  it  up  among  themselves.  When  they  did 
attempt  it,  the  effort  always  came  to  grief,  as  in 
Rv»ugh  and  Ready  Camp.  They  seemed  rather  to  wish 
to  ascertain  how  much  surface-ground  would  give  an 
operator  a  full  season's  work;  they  chose  the  richest 
spots  they  could  find,  marked  out  their  small  claims, 
and  left  to  later  comers  the  ascertaining  of  the  limits 
of  the  auriferous  deposits  of  the  district.  Very  often, 
indeed,  when  a  miner  had  worked  out  his  claim,  there 
was  plenty  of  equally  good  and  never-occupied  ground 
close  at  hand. 

But  the  lesser  differences  in  all  these  early  camps 


174  MINING-CAMPS. 

were  innumerable.  An  old  miner  writes  me  from  Chili, 
where  he  owns  a  large  hacienda  on  the  borders  of  the 
Araucanian  country,  and  states  that  a  Yuba  county 
camp  he  helped  to  organize  in  1850  did  not  permit  the 
transfer  of  claims,  either  by  sale  or  b}^  gift;  and  dis- 
putes were  referred  to  the  oldest  man  in  camp,  whose 
decision  was  final,  but  was  in  every  case  so  in  accord- 
ance with  justice,  that  it  was  invariably  accepted.  An 
old  miner  whom  the  writer  once  met  illustrated  a  similar 
method  in  vogue  in  one  of  his  early  camps :  "  When  we 
come  back  to  dinner.  Bill  an'  I,  two  strange  fellers  was 
at  work  in  our  claim.  We  sat  down  on  the  bank,  an' 
told  them  there  was  plenty  of  good  gravel,  jest  as  good, 
a  mile  down  the  river,  an'  that  was  our  diggin's.  They 
didn't  stir,  so  one  of  us  went  an'  asked  Cap'n  Bob 
Porter,  the  best  an'  quietest  man  in  camp,  to  come  up ; 
an'  we  all  had  a  drink  outen  the  cap'n's  flask,  an'  then 
we  talked  it  over,  he  bein'  spokesman.  Pretty  soon  they 
said  it  warn't  no  use  making  a  row,  an'  went  off  very 
friendly." 

This 'very  summer  of  1884,  the  dwellers  in  a  cottage 
on  one  of  the  fairest  islands  of  Casco  Bay  interviewed 
a  rugged  old  sea-captain,  a  pioneer  of  the  gold  period, 
and  a  kindly,  white-haired  giant  of  a  type  not  unlike 
brave  John  Ridd  in  "  Lorna  Doone."  He  had  toiled  in 
many  different  camps,  but  chiefly  in  the  noisy  town  of 
Spanish  Bar,  Placer  County,  where  an  elected  alcalde 
ruled,  and  where  "every  one  drinked  as  much  whiskey 
as  they  wanted."  The  size  of  claims  in  his  experience 
varied,  but  at  Spanish  Bar  it  was  ten  feet  square  in  the 
dry  diggings.  Tools  left  on  a  claim  held  it  for  three 
days'  absence,  and  a  claim-notice  protected  it  for  seven 
days.  Claims  on  the  river  were  one  hundred  feet  in 
length,  as  a  rule ;  though  sometimes,  when  a  camp  was 


ILLUSTRATIONS   FROM   CAMP   ORGANIZATIONS.      175 

crowded,  and  all  the  best  claims  taken  up,  a  new  com- 
pany of  miners  would  come  along,  and,  calling  a  public 
meeting  of  the  miners,  persuade  them  to  diminish  the 
prescribed  size  of  claims,  so  as  to  give  all  an  equal 
chance.  Sometimes  the  first-comers  exceeded  their 
rightful  bounds,  but  readily  yielded  when  other  miners 
arrived. 

This  sort  of  evidence  and  illustration,  afforded*  by 
letters  from  pioneers  of  California,  might  easily  be  ex- 
tended beyond  the  limits  of  a  single  chapter ;  but  we 
must  turn  to  a  more  definite  discussion  of  the  laws  of 
the  camps,  and  the  various  systems  under  which  they 
were  controlled.  The  flexibility  of  the  government 
known  in  the  Sierra  camps,  and  the  freedom  with  which 
it  assumed  different  forms,  were  quite  as  admirable 
traits  as  were  its  earnestness  and  efficiency.  Even  in 
the  quotations  already  given,  there  are  hints  of  differ- 
ent methods  of  governing  camps ;  and  these  must  now 
receive  consideration. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FORMS  OF  DISTRICT  GOVERNMENT.  -  FOLK-MOOT,  STAND- 
ING COMMITTEE,  AND  ALCALDE. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  forms  of  local  organization 
under  which  laws,  civil  or  criminal,  were  made  for  the 
governing  of  mining-districts,  were  varied  and  sugges- 
tive ;  but  they  are  all  reducible  to  three  types,  —  that 
L  rule  of  the  whole  body  of  freemen,  which  we  have  here- 
tofore denominated  the  "folk-moot  of  the  Sierra;"  that 
rule  of  a  select  and  permanent  committee  or  council  to 
whom  supreme  authority  was  sometimes  delegated; 
.and,  lastly,  that  individual  rale  of  the  alcalde,  or  of 
^  \he  miners'  justice  of  the  peace,  offices  of  nearly  similar 
powers  and  duties  in  the  eyes  of  the  early  gold-seekers. 
Behind  the  seldom-questioned  supremacy  of  council 
and  alcalde,  preventing  them  from  unjust,  despotic,  and 
arbitrary  extremes,  was  the  tacit  acknowledgment  of 
the  right  of  the  community  to  interfere  in  extreme 
cases.  Society  ever  kept  a  watchful  eye  upon  its  au- 
thorized dispensers  of  justice.  The  "folk-moot"  was 
the  original  and  central  institution. 

This  assemblage  of  the  people,  called  together  by 
any  person  or  persons,  after  choosing  a  temporary  offi- 
cer, proceeded  to  discuss  subjects  of  interest,  try  cases, 
make  laws,  and  enforce  them.  It  was  literally  govern- 
ment by  the  miners  of  the  district.  Boys  of  fifteen  and 
sixteen,  broad-shouldered  and   self-reliant,  often   took 

176 


FORMS   OF   DISTRICT   GOVERNMENT.  177 

part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  meeting.  It  was  this 
miners'  court,  that  our  Norse  and  Saxon  ancestors, 
could  they  have  risen  from  burial-mounds  like  Beowulf's 
"  on  the  steep,  seen  by  sea-goers  from  afar,"  reared  there 
by  the  "battle-brave  hearth-companions"  of  the  dead, 
would  undoubtedly  have  recognized  as  akin  to  those 
folk-moots  held  of  old  in  primeval  German  and  Scan- 
dinavian forests.  In  both  alike  were  the  right  of  free 
speech  for  all  freemen,  the  right  of  unhampered  discus- 
sion, the  visible  earnestness,  the  solemn  judgment,  not 
only  in  the  name  of  the  people,  but  by  the  people 
themselves,  assembled  to  right  wrong,  to  try  offenders, 
to  smite  even  to  death,  or  to  justify  and  set  free.  Out 
of  this  meeting,  containing  such  possibilities  for  good 
and  for  evil,  other  forms  of  government  known  to  the 
miners  developed,  or  in  this  meeting  were  of  their  own 
free  will  adopted.  No  alcalde,  no  council,  no  justice 
of  the  peace,  was  ever  forced  upon  a  district  by  an  out- 
side power.  The  district  was  the  unit  of  political  or- 
ganization, in  many  regions,  long  after  the  creation  of 
the  State ;  and  delegates  from  adjoining  districts  often 
met  in  consultation  regarding  boundaries,  or  matters 
of  local  government,  and  reported  to  their  respective 
constituencies  in  open-air  meeting,  on  hillside  or  river- 
bank. 

In  all  cases  of  criminal  trials,  the  miners'  court  as- 
sumed much  of  a  judicial  aspect.  Whatever  legal  talent 
the  miners  possessed  was  brought  into  service.  In  1849 
hardly  a  camp  existed  on  the  great  Sierra  slope,  that 
did  not  contain  miners  who  were  graduates  of  colleges 
and  law-schools,  or  were  lawyers  of  considerable  expe- 
rience. Many  of  these  men,  in  after-years,  became 
leaders  in  county  and  State  affairs.  Earnest,  intelli- 
gent, and  cultivated  speakers  stood  ready  to  defend  the 


178  MINING-CAMPS. 

accused.  When  acting  as  tribunals  of  life  and  death, 
all  who  appeared  were  entitled  to  a  vote,  and  to  be 
heard ;  but  when  deciding  laws  concerning  claims  and 
local  government,  members  of  other  camps  could  not 
vote.  The  accused — camp-thief,  sluice-robber,  horse- 
stealer, or  murderer  — was  guarded  by  men  with  re- 
volvers, or  was  tied  to  a  tree.  The  miners'  court  was 
in  such  cases  assembled  at  once,  not  by  formal  notices, 
but  by  a  cry  running  from  claim  to  claim,  from  height 
to  height,  proclaiming,  for  instance,  that  "they've 
caught  the  fellow  that  robbed  John  Smiley 's  sluice- 
boxes  last  night."  Nearly  every  one  then  came  into 
camp,  and  the  case  was  usually  brought  to  trial  within 
half  an  hour. 

Short  speeches  were  made  for  and  against  the  pris- 
oner ;  the  presiding  officer  charged  the  jury  "  to  do  the 
fair  thing  accordin'  to  common-sense ; "  and  after  a  brief 
deliberation  they  rendered  a  verdict,  and  the  presiding 
officer  decided  the  penalty.  If  there  was  no  jury,  the 
case  was  submitted  to  the  decision  of  the  miners  pres- 
ent, who  also  fixed  the  punishment.  In  small  camps, 
where  only  thirty  or  forty  men  assembled,  this  was 
perhaps  the  usual  system  ;  but  in  larger  camps,  the  jury- 
system  prevailed.  In  one  case,  a  trial  was  had,  and  the 
prisoner  hung  within  an  hour ;  it  being  a  cold-blooded 
murder,  with  a  dozen  witnesses  to  the  act.  In  another 
case,  the  jury  spent  four  days  in  taking  testimony  and 
listening  to  arguments.  When  it  was  decided  to  hang 
the  prisoner,  the  crowd  guarded  the  town  and  the  build- 
ing where  he  was  confined,  having  reason  to  fear  an  at- 
tempted rescue  ;  they  gave  him  four  days  to  prepare  for 
death,  and  then,  on  the  ninth  day^after  his  arrest,  hung 
him  to  a  bridge  in  the  presence  of  more  than  two  thou- 
sand men,  with  all  the  dignity  and  solemnity  imaginable. 


I 


FORMS   OF  DISTRICT   GOVERNMENT.  179 

Capital  punishment  was  jiot,  in  the  miners'  code,  con- 
fined to  murder:  it  was  often  inflicted  upon  those 
guilty  of  lesser  crimes.  Thus  the  roads  were  made  safe, 
the  cabins  of  the  lonely  miners  secure ;  as  in  the  days 
of  good  Duke  Robert,  ''gold  bracelets  might  hang  un- 
touched from  an  oak  by  the  public  highway."  Horse- 
stealing was  sometimes  considered  a  capital  ofPence; 
partly  because  of  the  great  value  and  scarcity  of  horses 
in  the  mines,  partly  from  the  fact  that  a  desperado  once 
mounted  was  infinitely  more  dangerous  than  before  to 
society.'  The  entire  absence  of  jails  and  prisons  in 
which  to  confine  criminals  reduced  available,  penalties 
to  three,  —  banishment,  whipping,  and  death.  In  prac- 
tice the  punishment  awarded  for  theft  was  whipping 
for  the  first  offence ;  but  if  repeated,  it  was  at  the  peril 
of  the  offender's  neck.  The  cases  in  which  men  were 
hung  for  theft  were  justified  by  the  miners  under  the 
plea  of  necessity ;  the  lawless  classes  being  sometimes 
strong  and  defiant,  only  checked  by  the  stern  deter- 
mination of  Americans  to  protect  their  property  from 
claim-jumpers  and  thieves. 

Cases  of  whipping  were  very  numerous.  A  man 
who  stole  a  sack  of  flour,  just  after  the  Nevada  City 
fire  of  1851,  was  given  twelve  lashes.  In  1850,  in  Grass 
Valley,  a  mule-thief  received  thirty  lashes.  In  Trinity 
County,  at  Hay  Fork,  the  first  thief  was  whipped  by 
the  entire  camp,  each  miner  giving  a  blow.  Hardly  a 
camp  existed  in  the  mining-region,  where,  sooner  or 
later,  the  assembled  court  did  not  decree  this  form  of 
punishment  to  some  offender.  In  one  case,  a  man  who 
entered  the  tent  of  a  Chileno  woman  one  night  during 
her  husband's  absence,  and  attempted  violence,  was 
whipped  so  severely  that  he  was  hardly  able  to  drag 
himself  out  of  the   camp  he  had  disgraced.     A  store- 


180  MINING-CAMPS. 

keeper  was  once  whipped  for  swindling  the  miners  out 
of  their  gold-dust  by  false  balances.  In  Calaveras 
County,  a  man  stole  a  small  amount  of  dust,  received 
ten  lashes ;  returned  that  night,  and  committed  another 
theft ;  was  given  twenty  lashes,  and  sent  out  of  camp. 
He  went  to  the  next  camp,  and  there  stole  a  mule  on 
which  to  leave  the  country ;  but  the  miners  of  this 
camp  caught  him,  and  the  court  sentenced  liim  to  fifty 
lashes  well  laid  on.  When  stripped,  however,  his  con- 
dition from  previous  punishments  appeared  so  dreadful 
that  a  vote  of  forgiveness  was  passed ;  and  the  owner 
of  the  mule  took  the  culprit  to  his  tent,  and  dressed  the 
bleeding  wounds. 

The  miners'  court  was  never  wittingly  cruel  in  its 
judgments,  but  it  was  liable  to  be  swayed  by  prejudice 
or  passion.  The  change  to  a  committee  or  council  form 
of  government,  which  occurred  in  quite  a  large  number 
of  cases,  was  a  decided  improvement.  The  best  ex- 
ample of  this  type  occurred  at  Rough  and  Ready  Camp, 
Nevada  County,  early  in  1850,  after  the  State  govern- 
ment had  been  organized,  but  while  three-fourths  of 
the  mining-region  still  depended  upon  miners'  courts. 
This  camp,  established  late  in  1849,  had  a  population 
of  several  hundred  persons.  They  held  a  mass-meeting, 
and  elected  a  committee  of  three  persons  to  administer 
justice.  The  miners  then  went  about  their  business, 
and  left  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  this  thriving 
camp  entirely  in  the  hands  of  these  three  citizens. 
There  was  no  higher  court ;  and  their  authority  was 
nearly  absolute,  and  always  well  sustained. 

Before  this  council,  a  man  who  was  accused  of  steal- 
ing was  tried  with  the  forms  of  law,  was  found  guilty, 
and  was  given  tliirty-nine  lashes,  after  which  he  was 
banished,  and  warned  never  again  to  appear  in  that 


FORMS   OF   DISTRICT   GOVERNMENT.  181 

camp.  The  three  members  of  the  council  Viad  equal 
powers,  and  all  voted  in  such  cases.  Presumably  a 
majority  ruled.  In  quite  a  number  of  cases,  the  punish- 
ment given  to  offenders  was  "  forty  stripes  save  one." 

The  council  had  civil  jurisdiction,  as  well  as  criminal. 
They  settled  quite  a  number  of  disputes  about  claims ; 
they  laid  out  the  streets  of  the  town,  and  apportioned 
the  town-lots  among  its  citizens ;  they  even  appointed 
a  constable,  issued  writs  as  occasion  demanded,  and 
accepted  bail-bonds  for  the  appearance  of  accused  per- 
sons. One  of  these  bonds  is  still  in  existence,  and 
shows  that  a  person  charged  with  horse-stealing  offered 
bail  to  the  amount  of  one  thousand  dollars,  and  after- 
wards came  forward  and  stood  his  trial. 

The  nearest  fully  established  court  of  justice  was  at 
Nye's  Landing,  afterwards  Marysville,  over  thirty  miles 
distant,  where  a  justice  of  the  peace  had  been  elected 
under  the  State  laws.  Nevada  City  had  an  alcalde, 
but  he  exercised  no  jurisdiction  outside  of  that  district. 
The  Grass-valley  miners  met  in  November,  1850,  under 
a  large  oak-tree,  and  elected  by  ballot  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  constable.  But  Rough  and  Ready  district 
was  satisfied  with  its  council,  which  accordingly  de- 
cided all  disputes,  administered  justice  with  an  equita- 
ble hand,  and  in  all  respects  made  their  management  of 
camp  affairs  so  satisfactory  that  it  lasted  until  the  juris- 
diction of  the  county  was  fully  established.^ 

This  sort  of  government  by  a  committee,  or  council, 
to  whom  all  powers  are  intrusted,  re-appears  in  Tuo- 
lumne, Placer,  and  Shasta  counties.  The  influence  of 
the  idea  is,  perhaps,  manifest  in  the  adoption  in  many 

1  Rough  and  Ready  was  then  in  Yuba  County's  jurisdiction.  H.  Q. 
Roberts,  James  S.  Dunh^avy,  and  Emanuel  Smith  formed  this  Com- 
mittee of  Vigilance  and  Safety. 


182  MINING-CAMPS. 

camps,  almost  simultaneously,  of  the  principle  of  arbi- 
tration, according  to  which  permanent  officers  were 
chosen,  and  given  the  duty  of  acting  as  arbitrators 
whenever  called  upon.  In  some  camps,  as  late  as  1854, 
all  disputed  claims  were  referred  to  a  standing  commit- 
tee ;  and  the  laws  of  many  districts,  as  will  be  shown 
hereafter,  contain  traces  of  this  principle.  No  case  of 
the  miners'  court  interfering  with,  or  revising  the  action 
of,  such  a  committee,  seems  known  to  record  or  to 
tradition. 

The  third,  and  historically  the  most  interesting  form 
of  camp-government,  was  by  means  of  an  alcalde,  that 
Spanish-American  official  of  time-honored  authority  and 
dignity.  It  seems  to  have  given  satisfaction  wherever 
adopted ;  as  the  camps  which  in  1848  organized  under 
that  form  made  no  change  until  their  incorporation  as 
towns  under  a  city  council,  or  their  subjection  to  the 
general  county  system.  The  duties,  powers,  and  many- 
sidedness  of  the  office  in  its  typical  development  have 
ali^cady  been  described. 

Removal  of  the  office  from  the  immediate  control  of 
the  military  governors  of  California  to  places  far  in  the 
interior,  and  difficult  of  access,  had  practically  emanci- 
pated it  from  all  superior  authority.  We  have  already 
seen  what  close  supervision  the  alcaldes  of  the  coast- 
towns  received  under  Kearney  and  Mason,  and  what 
jurisdiction  General  Riley  claimed  and  exercised ;  but 
over  the  alcaldes  of  the  mining-region,  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  the  control  elsewhere  exercised  by  the  de 
facto  governor  of  California  was  ever  felt  or  acknowl- 
edged.^    The  miners  were  not  in  the  habit  of  writing 

1  The  California  Documents  containing  the  oflBcial  correspondence 
of  Kearney,  Mason,  and  Riley,  at  various  times  durinj;  1847,  1848,  and 
1849,  to  various  officers,  are  crowded  with  letters  to  alcaldes  in  coast- 


FORMS   OF   DISTRICT   GOVERNMENT.  183 

letters  of  inquiry  when  difficult  cases  were  brought 
before  them,  or  of  waiting  for  weeks  till,  by  slow  and 
uncertain  methods  of  communication,  advice  was  re- 
ceived from  Monterey.  Even  when  the  Constitutional 
Convention  was  called,  it  proved  impossible  for  more 
tlian  half  the  miners  to  vote ;  again,  when  the  question 
of  adopting  the  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  peo- 
ple, the  same  difficulty  occurred.  Even  a  tax-gatherer 
could  not  keep  the  run  of  the  new  camps.  Each  little 
district  in  the  Sierra  was  a  bod}^  politic  by  itself,  con- 
scious of  no  outside  control ;  its  alcalde  seldom  paid 
any  attention  to  the  doings  of  his  neighbor  alcaldes,  nor 
conformed  his  rulings  to  the  strict  letter  of  Mexican 
alcalde-law,  nor,  indeed,  to  the  letter  of  any  law  what- 
ever. 

The  typical  plan  by  which  a  single  officer  was  elected, 
and  clothed  with  full  alcalde  powers,  was  often  modi- 
fied. It  sometimes  happened,  that,  at  the  very  first 
miners'  meeting  of  the  district,  a  sheriff  was  chosen 
to  aid  the  alcalde ;  and  a  recorder  to  register  mining- 
claims,  sometimes  to  act  as  clerk  of  the  alcalde-court. 
A  camp  provided  for  in  this  lavish  manner  was  consid- 
ered to  have  given  proof  of  its  permanence  to  all  the 
world.  The  chairman  of  the  meeting  administered  an 
official  oath  to  the  newly  elected  officers,  who  were  at 
once  installed.  The  alcalde  issued  writs  and  summons 
according  to  forms  copied  from  the  nearest  available 
law-book,  or  evolved  from  his  own  inner  consciousness 
and  sense  of  fitness,  and  often  expressed  in  untechnical 
—  even  ungrammatical  —  language;  the  sheriff  served 

towns.  But  no  letters  were  written  to,  or  received  from,  any  alcaldes 
east  of  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  Rivers;  nor  were  any  removals, 
appointments,  or  changes  made  east  of  those  rivers.  Even  when  Mason 
and  Riley  visited,  in  1848  and  1849,  the  camps,  there  were  no  appeals 
made  to  them :  the  miners  had  already  organized. 


184  MINING-CAMPS. 

these  writs  and  summons,  made  arrests,  preserved  order, 
and  saw  that  prescribed  punishments  were  duly  inflicted. 

The  compensation  allowed  to  these  officers  varied. 
The  alcalde  usually  received  about  sixteen  dollars  for 
trial  of  a  cause.  The  sheriff  had  pay  for  serving  writs, 
and  mileage  for  all  travel  performed  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties.  Jurors  received  six  dollars  apiece  for 
each  case  tried,  and  witnesses  were  paid  their  actual 
expenses. 

Funds  for  these  and  other  necessary  expenses  were 
secured  by  the  system  of  registering  claims.  The  fees 
for  this  were  from  fifty  cents  to  one  dollar  for  each  re- 
gistry, of  which  the  recorder  received  a  percentage ;  and 
miners  were  so  restless,  so  constantly  taking  up  new 
claims  and  abandoning  their  old  ones  to  others,  that 
even  small  camps  were  kept  in  funds  for  all  necessary 
judicial  expenditures.  There  was  no  waste  whatever. 
Every  dollar,  except  the  recorder's  small  percentage,  was 
used  for  legitimate  expenses.  A  camp  that  charged  no 
fees  for  recording  claims  had  two  financial  resources,  — 
one,  and  the  most  frequent,  by  means  of  a  collection ; 
the  other,  by  a  direct  assessment  upon  the  claims.  Thus 
we  see  that  the  miners  had  solved  the  problem  of  obtain- 
ing financial  support  to  their  courts  of  justice,  and,  in 
full  accordance  with  the  socialistic  features  of  their 
system,  had  made  taxation  equal.  The  amount  to  be 
raised  was  small :  no  miner  felt  the  payment  of  a  dollar 
when  he  registered  a  new  claim.  No  tax-collectors  were 
needed,  for  the  fact  that  unregistered  claims  were  liable 
to  be  "jumped"  in  short  metre  was  a  sufficient  incen- 
tive. The  district  thus  provided  for  was  a  self-governed, 
independent,  and  self-supporting  state  in  miniature. 

The  jury  for  civil  cases  was  usually  composed  of  six 
persons,  perhaps  from  questions  of  economy ;  in  crimi- 


FORMS   OF   DISTRICT   GOVERNMENT.  185 

nal  cases,  it  was  always  twelve.  The  alcalde's  decision, 
it  need  hardly  be  said,  was  final. 

In  many  cases,  a  camp  was  long  governed  by  occa- 
sional miners'  courts,  and  did  not  adopt  the  alcalde 
system  until  nearly  the  full  organization  of  State  and 
county  courts.  Thus,  in  March,  1850,  "the  need  of 
more  authority  was  felt  at  Caldwell's  Upper  Store ; " 
and  a  man  named  Stamps  was  by  ballot  elected  alcalde, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  votes  being  cast.  At  the  same 
miners'  meeting,  the  name  of  the  camp  was  changed 
to  "  Nevada  City."  Only  two  months  later  the  county 
officers  at  Marysville  ordered  an  election  for  justi.ce  of 
the  peace  to  supersede  the  alcalde,  so  his  reign  was  a 
brief  one.^  The  evidence  of  Governor  Riley,  as  noted 
in  a  previous  extract  from  his  report  of  a  visit  in  1849  to 
the  Tuolumne  camps ;  also  the  evidence  of  Mr.  Bayard 
Taylor,  who  describes  alcalde  rule  as  "nearly  universal 
in  the  Butte-county  region,"  —  is  sufficient  to  show  the 
extent  to  which  the  system  was  adopted.  It  suited  the 
demands  of  the  mining-community ;  being  simple,  effi- 
cient, thoroughly  representative,  and  always  responsible 
to  the  people. 

Stories  of  curious  alcalde  decisions  are  numerous  in 
the  mining-region,  and  some  of  them  are  extremely 
characteristic. 

In  Columbia  district,  Tuolumne  County,  the  first  case 
brought  before  the  alcalde  was  an  American  miner's 
complaint  against  a  Mexican  for  stealing  a  pair  of  old 
leather  leggings.  That  official,  himself  an  American, 
remonstrated;  but,  justice  being  demanded,  he  fined 
the  Mexican  three  ounces  (about  fifty  dollars)  for  the 
theft,  and  the  miner  one  ounce  for  making  a  complaint 

1  Thompson  and  West's  History  of  Nevada  County;  chapters  on 
Early  Courts,  and  on  Nevada  City. 


186  MINING-CAMPS. 

over  such  a  trifle.  The  second  case  in  this  court  was 
a  miner's  suit  against  a  neighbor,  for  a  pick  stolen  from 
his  cLaim.  Judgment  for  phiintiff,  for  value  of  pick,  one 
ounce ;  and  costs,  three  ounces. 

In  1849  an  El  Dorado  alcalde  had  a  case  of  trespass 
on  mining-ground  brought  before  him,  and  settled  it  to 
the  satisfaction  of  both  parties.  The  district  treasury 
was  nearly  empty.  Turning  to  the  astonished  sheriff, 
the  alcalde  ordered  him  to  pay  the  costs,  since  the  tres- 
passing miner  was  poor,  and  had  infringed  unwittingly 
upon  his  neighbor's  rights,  while  the  mulcted  officer 
owned  the  best  claim  on  the  gulch.  "  If  you  don't  do 
it,  the  boys  will  have  to  take  up  a  collection."  Protests 
were  ineffectual,  and  the  sheriff  paid  the  costs. 

In  one  of  the  Calaveras  camps  of  1849,  a  sailor  de- 
serter, too  lazy  to  work,  stole  several  thousand  dollars 
in  dust  and  coin  from  under  a  miner's  pillow,  was  cap- 
tured, left  tied  to  a  tree  the  rest  of  the  night,  and  ia 
the  morning  given  a  jury-trial,  and  found  guilty.  The 
alcalde  sentenced  him  to  one  hundred  lashes  well  laid 
on,  though  the  crowd  wanted  him  hung  as  an  example 
and  warning.  All  the  miners  favored  stringent  and 
rigidly  enforced  laws  against  theft.  A  law  permitting 
capital  punishment  for  theft  remained  for  a  few  months 
on  the  State  statute-book. 

One  more  story  of  early  alcalde  methods  will  suffice. 
It  was  in  one  of  the  northern  mines ;  and  the  alcalde 
had  a  slow,  oracular  delivery,  and  a  mild,  gentle,  per- 
suasive manner.  To  him  one  day  a  well-dressed  young 
man  who  had  stolen  a  purse,  and  tried  to  escape  on 
horseback,  was  brought  for  punishment ;  the  evidence 
being  so  clear,  that  after  five  minutes'  listening  to  the 
testimony,  the  alcalde  said  in  his  most  seductive  ac- 
cents, — 


FORMS   OF  DISTRICT   GOVERNMENT.  187 

"  Would  you  like  to  have  a  jury-trial,  my  son  ?  " 

"  No,  judge :  it  isn't  worth  while  to  do  that." 

"  All  right,  my  son.  Now  you  must  return  the  dust 
you  stole." 

"  Certainly,  judge." 

"  And  the  court  regrets  the  necessity,  but  really,  my 
son,  you  ought  to  pay  costs,  —  two  ounces." 

"  Oh,  I  can  stand  that :  here  it  is,  and  thank  ye, 
judge." 

"  Now  the  court  is  fully  satisfied,  with  the  exception 
of  one  trifling  formality.  —  Boys,  take  him  out,  and  give 
him  thirty-nine  lashes  well  laid  on." 

We  must  remember  that  all  the  various  forms  of 
camp-government  existed  in  one  place  or  another,  at 
the  same  time;  that  the  older  and  more  prosperous 
camps  were  assuming  the  appearance  of  towns,  and 
perhaps  had  a  town-council,  sheriff,  and  recorder,  be- 
sides the  alcalde ;  while  the  newer  camps  were  in  the 
first  stages  of  growth.  Nevada  camps  of  1849  were  in 
somewhat  the  condition  of  El  Dorado  camps  of  1848 ; 
Trinity-county  camps  of  1851  were  ruled  as  simply  and 
directly  as  were  those  of  Nevada  in  1849.  For  months 
after  the  State  judicial  system  was  adopted  and  estab- 
lished at  the  various  county-seats,  the  remote  camps 
saw  only  the  tax-collector,  and  continued  to  govern 
themselves  by  their  favorite  local  methods.  Long  after 
Sonora  Camp  had  organized  a  town  government,  and 
elected  a  council  and  mayor,  though  without  State 
authority,  there  were  hundreds  of  small  camps  where 
no  ofi&cer  except  the  chairman  of  the  miners'  court 
had  ever  been  known.  The  primitive  folk-moot  reigned 
supreme  in  these  temporary  camps.  A  chronological 
study  of  the  life  of  various  camps  is  impossible.  Some 
were  blossoming,  others  decaying;  some  began  under 


188  MINING-CAMPS. 

committee-rule,  others  with  one-man  power.  But  none, 
after  electing  an  alcalde,  chose  to  abandon  the  system 
and  return  to  primitive  methods ;  although  in  more  cases 
than  one  they  asserted  the  right  of  the  camp  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  the  actions  of  their  elected  rulei*. 

Brief  though  the  reign  of  the  mining-camp  alcaldes 
was,  it  left  a  deep  impress  upon  mountain  society ;  as 
an  occurrence  in  northern  California  a  few  years  ago 
will  perhaps  illustrate.  There  is  a  school-teacher  there, 
a  man  of  mighty  frame  and  great  energy,  whose  boy- 
hood was  spent  in  the  placers  of  Siskiyou,  and  his 
young  manhood  on  the  cattle-ranges  of  eastern  Oregon, 
and  in  adventurous  wanderings  along  the  frontiers  of 
British  Columbia.  When  tlie  late  war  began,  he  went 
East,  and  joined  a  regiment;  returning  to  his  mountain 
wilderness  in  1865,  a  crippled  and  battered  veteran. 
He  had  always  been  a  close  reader  and  hard  student : 
so,  as  a  teacher,  he  soon  won  a  reputation  for  success 
over  three  counties.  Under  these  circumstances  he  was 
called  to  take  charge  of  what,  with  undoubted  justice, 
was  called  one  of  the  worst  schools  in  northern  Cali- 
fornia. The  mail-rider  threw  off  the  trustee's  letter  at 
the  door  of  this  man's  summer  cabin,  perched  on  a  pine- 
clad  height  of  the  Sierra ;  trout-stream  within  a  stone's 
throw ;  grouse,  deer,  and  bear  in  the  woods ;  his  gun  and 
rod  in  the  corner,  his  "  Marcus  Aurelius  "  and  "  Noctes 
Ambrosiana "  on  a  rustic  shelf.  He  saddled  his  horse 
the  next  morning,  and  reached  the  village,  once  a  min- 
ing-camp, before  nine  o'clock.  When  school  was  called 
to  order,  he  found  that  efficient  work  demanded  a  re- 
classification ;  because  the  previous  teacher  had  tried  to 
gain  cheap  favor  by  advancing  grades  without  reason, 
and  skipping  the  hard  places.  After  a  few  weeks  he 
had  come  to  grief  by  trying  to   persuade  a  large  boy 


FORMS   OF   DISTRICT   GOVERNMENT.  189 

not  to  smoke  a  cigarette  in  school-hours ;  for  the  play- 
ful innocents  had  ducked  him  in  the  adjacent  stream, 
sousing  him  up  and  down  until  he  escaped,  waded  to 
the  farther  bank,  and  sought  other  fields  for  his  peda- 
gogic prowess.  But  the  new  teacher  possessed  fron- 
tier freedom  of  resource,  and  military  discipline  of 
character. 

"  I  must  turn  you  back  in  your  grades,"  he  said,  after 
several  hours  of  examination.  An  ominous  murmur 
of  rebellion  followed.  Several  boys  rose  in  their  seats, 
and  announced  that  their  parents  "would  see  about 
that." 

The  teacher  then  made  his  first  and  last  speech  to 
the  excited  school.  He  took  a  book  from  the  table,  and 
addressed  the  most  noisy  of  the  rebels. 

"  Do  you  know  what  this  is  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  —  the  school-law." 

"  And  it  defines  the  grades ;  and  you  think  that  last 
year  you  passed  an  examination,  and  that  I  cannot  go 
behind  the  law  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"Very  well,  you  are  quite  mistaken.  I  am  the  al- 
calde of  this  school.  I  am  sheriff,  and  register  of 
claims,  and  judge  of  the  camp,  and  the  whole  jury.  I 
am  absolute  finality  here  !  "  With  this  comprehensive 
statement,  he  threw  the  school-law  out  of  the  open  win- 
dow, and  then,  in  the  midst  of  an  awe-struck  throng, 
proceeded  to  break  up  and  consolidate  class  after  class. 

"  Yes,  an  alcalde  was  what  the  district  needed,"  was 
the  opinion  of  the  old  pioneers  of  the  village  when  the 
story  was  told;  and  a  better  school,  for  the  rest  of 
the  year,  northern  California  never  knew. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

HOW  AN  ALCALDE  WAS  ONCE  DEPOSED. 

We  have  said  that  in  the  mines  there  always  was  a 
tacit  recognition  of  the  power  vested  in  the  people  of 
the  camp  to  depose  an  alcalde  from  his  high  office. 
One  of  the  best  known  instances  of  the  exercise  of  this 
power  occurred  in  the  southern  Oregon  mines,  as  late 
as  the  autumn  of  1852;  and  its  history  throws  more 
light  upon  the  ideas  of  justice  and  law  which  underlie 
these  frontier  courts,  than  could  be  obtained  by  pages 
of  barren  generalization.^ 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  describe  the  beginnings  of 
local  government  in  Oregon,  the  famous  "  Wolf  Meet- 
ing "  of  the  settlers  of  the  beautiful  Willamette  Valley 
in  1843,  and  those  earlier  local  organizations  in  that 
region  in  1838  and  1839,  which  preceded  and  made  pos- 
sible that  notable  assembly.  The  Spanish-American 
and  gold-seeker  elements  were  entirely  foreign  to  the 
struggle  that  organized  Oregon  under  a  legislative  com- 
mittee and  supreme  judge,  while  the  ownership  of  her 
territory  was  as  yet  undetermined.  That  interesting 
struggle  of  Americans  to  gain  control  in  the  north-west 
must  be  studied  elsewhere.^ 

1  The  points  for  this  chapter  are  obtained  from  an  article,  "  Pioneer 
Justice  in  Oregon,"  Overland  Monthly,  first  series,  vol.  xii.  p.  225,  and 
from  letters  of  correspondents. 

2  Oregon:  Barrows;  American  Commonwealth  Series,  p.  265.  Mrs. 
Victor's  articles  on  Early  Oregon,  Overland  Monthly,  first  spries.  Gray, 
W.  H.,  History  of  Oregon.    Overland  Monthly,  November,  1884,  p.  555. 

190 


HOW   AN   ALCALDE   WAS   ONCE  DEPOSED.         191 

But  in  south-western  Oregon  there  were  placer-mines; 
and  to  these  narrow  gulches,  clad  with  spruce  and  fir, 
California  miners  went,  bearing  with  them  the  organiza- 
tion perfected  through  fierce  struggles  and  dire  neces- 
sity in  the  camps  of  1848  and  1849.  They  governed 
their  Oregonian  camps  on  the  plans  adopted  in  Siskiyou 
and  Shasta,  in  Amador  and  Fresno,  in  Tuolumne  and 
Nevada.  North  of  the  Calapooia  Mountains,  the  pioneer 
Oregonians  were,  and  always  remained,  totally  unac- 
quainted with  that  famous  Spanish  office,  the  alcalde- 
ship:  south  of  those  mountains,  there  were  several 
alcaldes  chosen  by  the  settlers,  and  given  the  extensive 
powers  of  the  office  as  known  in  California  camps. 
Before  January,  1852,  there  were  no  county  organiza- 
tions in  the  south-western  fourth  of  Oregon,  and  for 
a  year  later  the  alcaldes  continued  to  rule  supreme  in 
that  region.  Returned  Oregonians,  who  had  determined 
to  prospect  nearer  home  after  one  or  two  seasons  in 
California,  were  influential  forces  in  all  the  earlier  Ore- 
gon camps. 

The  miners  of  Jackson-creek  Camp,  Rogue-river  Val- 
ley, had  an  alcalde  named  Rogers.  He  was  not  at  all 
popular,  but  was  thought  to  be  honest  and  capable 
until  events  showed  him  in  an  unexpected  light.  His 
election  had  occurred  before  the  camp  had  "  boomed :  " 
the  few  early  miners  on  the  creek  had  chosen  him,  and 
the  crowds  that  came  later  had  accepted  his  authority. 

It  happened  that  there  were  two  mining-partners, 
named  Sim  and  Sprenger,  who  worked  a  claim  together, 
and  were  unnoticed  and  unknown  in  tlie  mass  of  busy 
workers  till  a  sudden  difficulty  brought  them  into 
prominence. 

Sim  took  money  from  the  funds  of  the  concern,  and 
went  to  Portland  to  lay  in  their  winter's  stock  of  pro- 


192  MINING-CAMPS. 

visions.  During  his  absence  his  partner,  Sprenger,  met 
with  an  accident,  and  was  crippled,  helpless,  and  sick 
in  the  cabin,  nursed  by  a  few  sympathizing  friends, 
when  Sim  returned.  The  real  nature  of  Sim  revealed 
itself;  without  any  compunctions  he  at  once  ejected 
Sprenger  from  their  cabin  and  their  claim.  Of  what 
use  was  a  sick  and  crippled  partner  ? 

The  wronged  and  unfortunate  miner  secured  the  ser- 
vices of  a  young  man  named  Kinney  as  his  lawyer,  and 
took  liis  complaint  to  Alcalde  Rogers.  But  Sim,  as 
events  proved,  had  forestalled  him  by  arguments  of  an- 
other sort :  putting  little  trust  in  his  claim  of  a  verbal 
sale,  and  his  extremely  doubtful  witnesses,  he  bribed 
the  unworthy  alcalde,  who,  disregarding  local  custom, 
mining-law,  and  the  plain  dictates  of  reason  and  justice, 
rendered  his  verdict  against  Sprenger.  The  plaintiff, 
in  sad  destitution  and  misery,  and  urged  as  a  forlorn- 
hope  by  some  of  his  friends,  begged  the  alcalde  for  a 
re-hearing  of  the  case,  which  was  promptly  refused :  a 
judge  could  not  be  expected  to  overrule  his  own  de- 
cisions. Nor  would  he  grant  a  jury-trial.  Restitution, 
and  re-instatement  in  his  possession  of  one  undivided 
half  of  cabin,  tools,  provisions,  and  claim,  appeared  un- 
attainable for  poor  Sprenger. 

The  story  was  told  throughout  the  camp,  and  it  was 
openly  said  that  there  had  been  bribery  of  the  wit- 
nesses, perhaps  of  the  alcalde ;  but  the  camp,  though 
populous,  was  a  scattered  settlement,  and  concerted 
action  was  difficult.  There  was  indignant  talk,  but  the 
men  and  the  hour  had  not  yet  arrived.  Sprenger  found 
shelter  in  a  friendly  cabin,  and  Sim  began  to  look  about 
for  an  able-bodied  partner  who  wanted  to  "buy  in." 
But  no  one  desired  the  situation  of  partner  to  such  a 
man. 


HOW   AN   ALCALDE   WAS   ONCE   DEPOSED.         193 

Matters  were  in  this  condition  when  Sprenger,  still 
brooding  over  his  wrongs,  still  urged  by  sympathizing 
friends,  heard  that  a  miner  in  the  camp,  named  Prim, 
was  a  first-rate  lawyer,  a  graduate  of  some  law-school, 
and  an  attorney  of  considerable  experience.  Hoping 
against  hope  that  some  new  mode  of  procedure  might 
yet  be  devised,  Sprenger  hobbled  to  Prim's  claim,  and 
begged  for  his  assistance.  At  first  this  was  denied ;  and 
Prim  even  said  he  was  no  lawyer,  and  could  not  leave 
his  work.  But  Sprenger's  penniless  and  piteous  condi- 
tion became  an  appeal  that  could  not  be  disregarded : 
the  miner  threw  down  his  tools,  hunted  up  Sprenger's 
former  attorney  Kinney,  and  they  held  a  conference. 

Further  appeal  to  the  alcalde  was  clearly  useless. 
But  Prim  proposed  to  reach  the  territorial  courts  north 
of  the  Calapooia  Mountains,  —  to  go,  in  fact,  to  Portland 
itself,  —  and  there  obtain  powers  to  organize  a  district 
court  with  appellate  powers  over  the  entire  region. 
There  was  constant  need,  he  argued,  for  a  more  com- 
plete scientific  system.  They  could  not  continue  the 
unbalanced,  uncontrolled,  irresponsible  alcalde  system 
without  a  higher  court  to  check  its  abuses.  The  practi- 
cal difiiculty  in  the  way  was,  that  all  this  would  take 
months,  and  their  unfortunate  client  would  probably 
starve  long  before  the  close  of  the  approaching  winter. 
Then,  too,  the  value  of  the  interest  he  owned  in  the 
claim  from  which  he  had  been  ousted  was  steadily  di- 
minishing, as  Sim  worked  there  from  daylight  to  dark. 
And  if  Sim  should  succeed  in  finding  a  partner,  a  new 
element  of  difficulty  would  be  added. 

At  last  Kinney  is  reported  to  have  exclaimed,  "Who 
but  the  people  made  the  damned  scoundrel  alcalde,  any- 
how ?     We  can  organize  our  own  court  of  appeals.'^ 

Prim  caught  eagerly  at  the  idea.     They  sent  a  man 


194  MINING-CAMPS. 

up  and  down  the  gulches,  and  over  the  ridges,  to  the 
extreme  limits  of  the  district  within  Alcalde  Rogers's 
jurisdiction.  It  took  a  day  of  hard  travel  to  summon 
them  all,  but  nearly  every  one  heeded  the  appeal  to 
his  sense  of  justice.  There  was  no  attempt  to  pre- 
judge the  case,  or  to  bias  men's  opinions.  Each  miner 
was  told  that  numbers  of  persons  thought  a  great 
wrong  had  been  done,  and  that  it  was  desired  to  exam- 
ine the  entire  subject  with  all  fairness  and  deliberation, 
sustaining  or  reversing  the  former  judgment  as  the  evi- 
dence should  warrant. 

So  the  eventful  morning  dawned ;  and  over  a  thou- 
sand miners  threw  down  their  picks  and  shovels,  left 
their  rockers,  long-toms,  and  sluices,  and  came  hasten- 
ing to  the  main  camp.  Every  man  of  them  all  suffered 
a  loss,  by  his  day's  idleness,  of  whatever  his  work  that 
day  would  have  earned,  —  perhaps  five  dollars,  perhaps 
fifty  dollars;  but  the  miners  of  Jackson  Creek  were 
willing  to  suffer  loss  if  justice,  as  between  man  and 
man,  could  thereby  be  established. 

The  court  met  in  the  open  air,  and  chose  a  presiding 
officer.  They  then  elected  a  committee  of  three  well- 
known  miners  to  wait  on  Alcalde  Rogers,  and  respect- 
fully request  him,  "  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  citizens  of  Jackson-creek  Camp,"  to  re-open  his 
court,  and  give  the  case  of  Sim  vs.  Sprenger  a  new 
trial :  they  asked  also  that  a  jury  be  allowed.  Rogers 
refused  point-blank,  and  retired  grimly  defiant  to  the 
intrenchments  of  his  log-cabin.  The  committee  re- 
turned, and  made  a  report  in  open  meeting.  It  was 
then  discharged,  and  the  first  act  of  the  drama  had 
closed. 

Only  one  course  was  left  for  the  miners'  meeting,  — 
to  organize  their  higher  court,  and  invest  it  with  full 


HOW  AN  ALCALDE  WAS  ONCE  DEPOSED.    195 

authority  to  review  any  and  all  proceedings  of  the 
court  below.  This  seems  to  have  been  done  by  these 
bold  reformers  on  the  supposition  that  it  might  have  to 
be  a  permanent  thing :  it  was  not  merely  an  expedient 
by  which  to  re-instate  Sprenger  in  his  rights,  if  such 
rights  a  fair  trial  proved  him  to  possess.  It  had  dawned 
upon  the  minds  of  those  earnest  men  assembled  in  that 
winding  Oregonian  ravine,  that  the  time  had  come  for 
a  higher  judicial  organization.  With  strong  good 
sense  and  sturdy  independence,  they  grappled  with  the 
problem. 

First,  a  miner  named  Hayden,  one  of  the  most  re- 
spected and  intelligent  men  in  the  entire  community, 
was  nominated  and  elected  to  serve  as  chief  judge  of 
the  district.  He  declined  the  responsible  position,  beg- 
ging them  to  choose  some  one  else ;  but  the  duties  of 
the  office  were  urged  upon  him  until  he  was  forced  to 
accept. 

Judge  Hayden  displayed  the  greatest  promptitude, 
dignity,  and  good  sense  in  his  proceedings.  He  at 
once  asked  for  a  sheriff  and  a  clerk,  who  were  immedi- 
ately elected,  and  reported  themselves  ready  for  duty. 
Within  an  hour  after  Hayden's  acceptance,  a  writ  of 
certiorari  commanding  Alcalde  Rogers  to  appear  in  the 
new  and  duly  established  court,  before  Judge  Hayden, 
and  submit  the  records  of  his  proceedings,  was  served 
upon  that  officer  by  the  newly  installed  sheriff  of  Jack- 
son Creek.  To  the  surprise  of  all  concerned,  the  stub- 
born alcalde  refused  to  yield,  and  proceeded  to  impugn 
the  motives  of  certain  leaders,  and  deny  the  legal  exist- 
ence of  the  court.  History  has  failed  to  keep  an  exact 
record  of  his  language;  but,  beyond  a  doubt,  it  was 
profanely  belligerent. 

The  crowd  of  miners  were  by  this  time  tired  and 


196  MTNiisrG-CA]vrps. 

angry.  It  was  suggested  to  batter  down  Rogers's 
cabin,  take  possession  of  his  records,  and  lay  them 
before  the  newly  chosen  superior  judge.  But  to  this 
Judge  Hayden  objected,  as  defeating  the  ends  of  jus- 
tice. He  called  the  sheriff,  and  issued  new  writs,  order- 
ing both  parties  in  the  original  controversy  to  appear 
before  him  at  once  for  a  trial :  in  other  words,  he  ignored 
all  former  proceedings,  and  asserted  original  as  well  as 
appellate  jurisdiction  over  the  camp.  The  impressive- 
ness  of  the  scene  had  now  become  indescribable.  Those 
hundreds  of  brawny,  bare-armed,  red-shirted  men, 
grouped  in  the  open  air,  under  giant  oaks,  were  moving 
without  noise  or  excitement  to  the  full  accomplishment 
of  their  appointed  task. 

Plaintiff  and  defendant  came  before  the  new  court, 
and  were  assured  of  a  full  and  fair  trial.  Witnesses 
were  summoned ;  a  jury  impanelled,  sworn  to  do  their 
duty ;  and  lawyers  appointed  for  each  side.  Tradition 
reports  that  Sim's  lawyer  was  able  and  courageous,  but 
that  his  witnesses  weakened  under  the  severe  cross- 
questioning  of  his  opponent.  Both  lawyers  made  ap- 
peals to  the  jury,  and  the  case  was  submitted.  No  one 
can  doubt,  from  the  dignity  and  earnestness  which  had 
hitherto  prevailed,  that  a  verdict  for  the  defendant, 
though  contrary  to  the  general  expectation,  would  have 
been  accepted  by  the  assemblage.  By  the  verdict  of 
that  jury,  those  freemen  who  had  left  their  claims  lying 
idle  for  miles  were  tacitly  pledged  to  abide ;  and  Prim, 
Kinney,  and  Hayden  would  have  been  the  first  to  ac- 
quiesce, the  last  to  propose  any  "  new  deal." 

The  court,  in  his  charge  to  the  jury,  said  that  they 
must  strip  the  case  of  technicalities,  regarding  no  law 
but  right  and  wrong,  no  test  but  common-sense.  They 
listened  with  approval,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  dis- 


HOW  AN  ALCALDE  WAS  ONCE  DEPOSED.    197 

agree  on  a  vital  point :  some  wanted  to  hang  Sim,  who 
had  been  proved  guilty  of  bribery ;  several  wanted  to 
hang  Alcalde  Rogers.  This  dangerous  phase  soon  passed 
away ;  the  jury  found  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiff,  and 
left  the  sentence  with  the  court,  where  it  evidently  be- 
longed. Judge  Hayden  then,  amid  breathless  silence, 
announced  his  decision :  Sprenger  was  to  be  re-instated 
in  all  his  former  rights,  as  half  owner  of  cabin,  tools, 
provisions,  and  claim;  Sim  was  also  ordered  to  pay 
the  costs  of  his  partner's  sickness.  The  court  then 
adjourned. 

But  some  of  the  evidence  offered  had  revealed  so 
much  rascality  and  malfeasance  on  the  part  of  Alcalde 
Rogers,  that  none  of  the  miners  were  satisfied  to  let 
him  longer  hold  the  office  he  had  so  disgraced.  Who 
could  any  more  put  confidence  in  so  untrustworthy  an 
official?  How  could  a  thousand  men,  some  of  them 
living  five  miles  from  the  central  camp,  be  expected 
to  leave  their  claims,  and  administer  justice  by  newly  or- 
ganized courts  each  time  there  was  need  thereof?  The 
crowd  proceeded  to  Rogers's  cabin,  growing  angrier  and 
more  tumultuous  each  moment.  A  cry  that  he  should 
be  hung  swelled  like  a  mountain  torrent  in  time  of 
flood;  but  Hayden,  Prim,  Kinney,  and  Jacobs  (who 
had  been  Sim's  lawyer),  made  speeches,  and  reason 
again  prevailed.  One  thing,  however,  was  certain, — 
Alcalde  Rogers  must  resign ;  and  this  he  did  without 
demur.  Judge  Hayden's  court  was  then  re-assembled, 
and  it  levied  an  instant  execution  upon  some  mining- 
property  which  ex- Alcalde  Rogers  had  illegally  and 
unjustly  obtained;  it  being  part  of  the  Sim-Sprenger 
claim,  given  to  him  by  Sim  as  a  retainer  at  the  time 
of  the  first  trial. 

The  Hayden  court  lasted  until  county  organization,  a 


198  MINING-CAMPS. 

few  months  later,  but  no  other  case  of  any  importance 
was  brought  before  it.  The  lesson  taught  by  the  sight 
of  those  assembled  pioneers  had  proved  sufficient. 

The  typical  nature  of  this  remarkable  case  is  best 
shown  by  the  facts  that  Sim's  lawyer,  Mr.  Jacobs,  has 
since  become  chief  justice  of  Washington  Territory;  that 
Mr.  Prim  has  been  chief  justice  of  Oregon ;  that  Judge 
Hayden  for  many  years  has  been  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  southern  Oregon  ;  that  the  full  records  of 
the  case  are  on  file  in  the  archives  of  Jackson  County, 
Oregon ;  and  that  variants  of  the  story  can  be  heard  in 
mining-camps  hundreds  of  miles  from  Jackson  Creek. 
Years  ago,  in  Douglas-city  Camp,  Trinity  County,  Cal., 
the  writer  first  heard  of  "Judge  Hayden's  appellate 
court : "  to-day,  perhaps,  the  story  is  told  in  the  Koote- 
enay  passes,  and  under  the  Uintah  pines. 

In  points  of  interest  and  importance,  this  case  is  only 
surpassed  by  the  equally  famous  Scotch  Bar  case  of  the 
Siskiyou  mines.  But  at  Scotch  Bar  the  problem  was 
of  a  different  nature,  and  cannot  be  considered  in  this 
connection :  we  must  first  return  to  the  California  camps 
of  the  early  gold-era,  and  discuss  a  curious  institutional 
link  between  the  alcalde  of  full  and  unlimited  powers, 
and  the  ordinary  justice  of  the  peace  of  ten  years 
later. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  MINERS'  JUSTICE  OF  THE  PEACE. 

The  most  important  officer  the  miners  had  under  the 
early  State  and  county  organization  was  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  on  whom,  in  practice,  partial  alcalde  powers 
were  bestowed  in  a  number  of  cases. 

The  State  law  of  1850  ordered  the  election  of  justices 
of  the  peace  in  every  township,  and  abolished  the  office 
of  alcalde.  The  length  of  term  was  fixed  at  one  year ; 
jurisdiction  to  extend  over  the  township,  often  as  large 
as  the  average  county  of  an  Atlantic  seaboard  State. 
The  justice  had  cognizance  of  action  to  recover  damages, 
or  specific  property  of  not  more  than  two  hundred  dol- 
lars in  value. 

In  1851  the  powers  of  this  office  were  greatly  en- 
larged. The  justice  of  the  peace  was  given  authority 
to  try  all  civil  cases  when  the  amount  involved  did  not 
exceed  five  hundred  dollars,  all  cases  of  forcible  entry 
and  detainer,  and  all  disputes  over  mining-claims  and 
cases  involving  mining-properties,  whatever  their  value. 
It  was  this  last  clause  which  made  the  miners'  justice  of 
the  peace  a  much  more  powerful  potentate  in  1850-52 
than  was  his  brother  of  the  valley  townships.  His 
criminal  jurisdiction  included  all  cases  punishable  by  a 
fine  of  not  more  than  five  hundred  dollars,  or  not  more 
than  a  year's  imprisonment. 

Hon.  A.  A.  Sargent,  in  his  valuable  "  Sketch  of  the 
Nevada-county  Bar,"  says,  — 

199 


200  MINENG-CAMPS. 

"  The  jurisdiction  of  justices  of  the  peace  in  1850-51,  who  were 
then  the  only  judicial  officers  known  in  these  diggings,  was  a  little 
shadowy,  or  very  substantial,  as  the  reader  pleases." 

Some  examples  are  given  by  Mr.  Sargent.  In  1851, 
in  Rough  and  Ready,  just  after  the  famous  council  re- 
tired to  private  life,  a  case  which  involved  possession  of 
a  mining-claim  on  Lander's  Bar  —  a  claim  worth  fully 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars — was  tried  before  Justice 
Roberts.  Among  the  counsel  was  Mr.  Lorenzo  Sawyer, 
now  on  the  supreme  bench  of  California.  The  trial 
lasted  three  days,  and  the  jury  disagreed.  A  new  trial 
was  commenced  on  the  following  day,  which  lasted  ten 
days,  and  was  one  of  the  most  closely  contested  legal 
struggles  of  the  period.  Able  and  brilliant  lawyers 
fought  the  ground  over,  inch  by  inch,  and  exhausted 
every  resource  of  the  profession.  This  trial  resulted  in 
a  verdict,  and  the  losers  paid  a  bill  of  costs  amounting 
to  nineteen  hundred  and  ninety-two  dollars  in  gold- 
dust. 

In  September,  1850,  one  of  the  "coyote-hole  claims," 
near  Nevada  City,  was  owned  by  several  Frenchmen, 
and  is  said  to  have  paid  as  high  as  nine  hundred  and 
twelve  dollars  to  the  pan.^  Several  Americans  coveted 
the  mine,  and  so  demanded  to  see  the  owners'  foreign- 
tax  receipts.  The  Frenchmen  had  none  less  than  two 
months  old,  but  were  ready  to  pay  whenever  the  col- 
lector appeared.  The  Americans  drove  them  off,  took 
possession,  and  began  work.  Suit  to  recover  was  brought 
before  the  justice  of  the  peace.  The  case  went  to  a  jury, 
and  the  chief  plea  of  the  Americans  was  that  "they 
wanted  a  slice."  Of  course  the  verdict  was  against 
them;   a   sheriff's   posse   at  once   re-instated  the   true 

1  "Coyote  claims,"  small  holes  on  the  hillside  to  reach  rich  gravel, 
which  is  carried  to  the  nearest  stream,  and  washed  out. 


THE  miners'   justice  OF   THE  PEACE.  201 

owners,  and  the  claim-jumpers  were  warned  against 
repeating  such  exploits. 

Quite  a  number  of  cases  are  on  record  where  a  justice 
of  the  peace  issued  writs  of  injunction  to  restrain  par- 
ties from  working  valuable  mines  until  their  true  owner- 
ship could  be  decided.  In  one  case,  this  injunction  was 
made  perpetual. 

The  justices  were  not  always  fit  men  to  hold  office. 
A  miner  near  Placerville  was  once  on  trial  before  a 
justice  for  assaulting  a  claim-jumper.  The  story  is  ad- 
mirably told  in  Parsons's  Life  of  Marshall.  The  trial 
began  at  eleven  p.m.  ;  and  the  justice  kindly  adjourned 
the  court  every  few  minutes,  so  that  prisoner,  prosecutor, 
jury,  witnesses,  officers  of  the  court,  and  spectators 
could  fraternize  at  the  bar  of  the  neighboring  saloon. 
When  morning  came,  "a  drunken  lawyer  addressed  a 
drunken  jury,  on  behalf  of  a  drunken  prosecutor ,  and, 
a  drunken  judge  having  delivered  an  inebriated  charge, 
a  fuddled  verdict  of  acquittal  was  rendered." 

At  Nevada  City,  in  1852,  a  thief  was  sentenced  by 
the  justice,  to  receive  twenty  lashes :  so  he  was  tied  to 
a  pine-tree,  and  given  his  punishment  before  the  court 
adjourned.  Stories  of  equally  summary  judgment  and 
execution  are  told  of  pioneer  justices  of  the  peace  at 
"  Piety-hill "  Camp  in  Shasta,  and  at  camps  in  Klamath 
and  Butte. 

In  one  very  amusing  case  reported  from  Nevada 
County,  two  alleged  horse-thieves  were  brought  before 
an  old  justice  of  the  peace  whose  fame  for  honest,  origi- 
nal, and  usually  sensible  decisions  had  gone  abroad. 
The  friends  of  the  two  lawj^ers  who  conducted  the  case 
had  laid  wagers  as  to  which  lawyer  would  make  the 
best  speech ;  but  of  this  the  justice  was,  of  course,  kept 
in  ignorance.     The  lawyer  for  the   prosecution  made 


202  MINING-CAMPS. 

out  an  unusually  clear  case ;  but  the  defendants'  attor- 
ney called  up  a  man  from  a  neighboring  camp,  and 
asked,  "  What  was  the  prisoners'  character  at  the  East 
where  you  knew  them  ?  " 

"  It  was  good,"  replied  the  witness. 

"  Good  character ! "  squealed  the  brusque  and  excited 
old  justice.  "  Good  character,  when  they  have  been 
proved  to  be  damned  thieves?  That  evidence  won't 
do.  They  stand  committed.  —  Sheriff,  take  them  to  jail." 
A  shout  went  up  from  the  assembled  crowd,  and  all 
wagers  were  declared  "  off." 

The  early  justices  of  the  peace  in  Tuolumne  County 
were  endowed  with  the  same  miscellaneous  assortment 
of  judicial  powers  that  we  have  noted  in  Nevada:  in 
some  respects  the  survival  of  alcalde  powers  was  more 
complete  in  the  southern  mines,  where  those  powers  had 
always  been  more  despotic. 

Justice  Barry  of  Sonora,  successor  of  the  last  alcalde 
of  that  region,  was  a  type  of  a  large  class.  He  had  an 
advertisement  inserted  in  the  Sonora  "Herald"  of  July 
4,  1850  (the  first  issue  of  the  first  newspaper  published 
in  the  mines  of  California),  which  read  as  follows :  — 

"  All  persons  are  forbid  firing  off  pistols  or  guns  within  the  limits 
of  this  town  under  penalty ;  and  under  no  plea  will  it  be  hereafter 
submitted  to ;  therefore  a  derogation  from  this  notice  will  be  dealt 
with  according  to  the  strictest  rigor  of  the  law  so  applying  as  a 
misdemeanor  and  disturbance  of  the  peaceful  citizens  of  Sonora." 

In  the  foregoing,  "the  judicious  printer"  had  evi- 
dently corrected  the  orthography ;  but  no  printer  could 
destroy  the  expressiveness  of  "derogation"  and  "strict- 
est rigor."  The  following  decision  is  given  verbatim  et 
literatim^  and  in  the  annals  of  frontier-justice  docu- 
ments it  certainly  deserves  a  high  place.  The  affair 
which  drew  out  this  paper  was  a  case  in  wliich  the 


THE  miners'   justice  OF   THE  PEACE.  203 

State  was  prosecutor,  and  a  Mexican  named  Barretta 
was  defendant.  The  trial  lasted  nearly  two  days,  law- 
yers being  engaged  on  both  sides.  Justice  Barry,  after 
several  hours  of  study  and  reflection,  returned  his  de- 
cision in  the  form  of  a  written  document,  still  in  exist- 
ence.    It  reads  as  follows :  — 

"  Having  investigated  the  case  wherein Barretta  has  bean 

charged  by  an  old  Mexican  woman  named  Maria  Toja  with  having 
abstracted  a  box  of  money  which  was  hurried  in  the  gromid  jointly 
belonging  to  her  self  and  daughter,  and  carrying  it,  or  the  con- 
tents away  from  her  dwelling,  and  appropriating  the  same  to  his 
own  use  and  benifet,  the  suppossed  ammount  being  over  too  hun- 
dred dollars ;  but  failing  to  prove  posittively  that  it  contained  more 
than  twenty,  and  that  proven  by  testimony  of  his  owne  witness, 
and  by  his  owne  acknowledgment,  the  case  being  so  at  variance 
with  the  common  dictates  of  humanity,  and  having  bean  done 
under  very  painful  circumstaces,  at  the  time  when  the  young 
woman  was  about  to  close  her  existance,  the  day  befoi'e  she  died, 
and  her  aged  mother  the  same  time  lying  upon  a  bead  of  sickness 
unable  to  rise  or  to  get  a  morsel  of  food  for  her  self,  and  he  at  that 
time  presenting  him  self  as  an  angel  of  releaf  to  the  poor  and 
destitute  sick,  when  twenty  poor  dollars  might  have  releaved  the 
emediate  necessitys  of  the  poor,  enfeabled,  sick,  and  destitute  old 
woman,  far  from  home  and  friends.  Calls  imperitively  for  a  severe 
rebuke  and  repremand  for  sutch  inhuman  and  almost  unprece- 
dented conduct,  as  also  for  the  necessity  of  binding  him  over  to  the 
Court  of  Sessions  in  the  sum  of  $500^°/g-. 

«  (Signed)  R.  C.  BARRY,  J.P. 

•'SoNORA,  Nov.  10,  1851." 

Amusing  as  is  this  summing-up,  this  special  pleading, 
this  honest  indignation,  and  characteristic  of  the  mining- 
camp  justice  as  is  the  entire  document,  yet  the  reader 
cannot  but  feel  a  sense  of  disappointment  at  the  out- 
come. One  fully  expects  a  sentence  that  shall  fitly 
punish  the  Barretta  enormities.  But  Justice  Barry 
recognizes  the  rights  of  the  newly  established  court 
of  sessions,  —  though  evidently  with  a  struggle,  —  and 


204  MINING-CAMPS. 

he  will  keep  strictly  within  his  powers  as  defined  by 
State  law.  The  court  of  sessions  consisted  of  the 
county  judge  and  two  justices  of  the  peace,  and  had 
original  jurisdiction  in  all  criminal  cases  except  murder, 
manslaughter,  and  arson.  Justice  Barry  was  a  member 
of  this  court.  Sonora  was  in  1851  the  county-seat  of 
Tuolumne.  In  1863  the  sessions  courts  of  California 
were  abolished  by  a  constitutional  amendment. 

From  papers  still  in  the  Tuolumne-county  records,  it 
appears  that  Justice  Barry  acted  as  town  coroner,  for 
which  his  fees  were  ten  dollars  in  each  case.  Between 
Oct.  20,  1850,  and  July  28, 1851,  we  have  the  following 
record  of  violent  deaths :  William  Doff,  Michael  Burk, 
James  Haden,  and  William  A.  Bowen,  all  murdered, 
"no  clue  to  the  perpetrators;"  George  Williams,  sui- 
cide ;  William  Bowen,  hung  at  Curtis  Creek,  for  killing 
A.  Boggs;  T.  Newly,  killed  by  an  outlaw  named  Fuller, 
who  made  his  escape;  Leven  Davis,  "killed  by  a  rifle- 
shot in  a  Jumping  Claim  Row; "  two  homicides  decided 
to  have  been  justifiable.  Almost  every  document  winds 
up  with,  "Justice  fees  ten  dollars,"  or  "Coroner's  fees 
ten  dollars." 

One  document  (No.  997)  in  Justice  Barry's  court, 
was  a  writ  issued  to  the  sheriff,  ordering  him  to  summon 
parties  chgirged  with  having  jumped  a  town  lot  belong- 
ing to  "  one  Donnalld,"  who  "  claims  his  rights  as  an 
American  cittizen  by  claiming  a  writ  to  disposess  them, 
and  to  have  restitution  according  to  law  with  appropi- 
ate  damages  for  the  imposission  now  about  to  be  carried 
out  against  him  by  sutch  high-handed  and  mercenary 
arrowgance  on  the  part  of  aforesaid  accused."  ^ 

1  These  records  of  Justice  Barry's  courts  are  taken  from  a  very  rare 
pamphlet,  published  at  Columbia,  Tuolumne  County,  in  1856,  by  Hecken- 
dorf  and  Wilson,  and  entitled  a  Miner's  and  Business  Directory.     It 


THE  miners'   justice  OF  THE  PEACE.  205 

Many  other  stories  of  the  early  courts  of  justices  of 
the  peace  might  be  told,  but  enough  has  been  said  to 
give  some  idea  of  their  methods  and  powers.  Calaveras, 
Stanislaus,  Amador,  El  Dorado,  and  Tuolumne  appear 
to  have  contained  a  large  number  of  camps  where  these 
officers  had  more  extensive  powers  than  elsewhere. 

The  men  who  were  chosen  justices  of  the  peace  in 
these  mining-camps  were  often  eccentric  and  illiterate, 
but  as  a  rule  their  honesty  and  good  judgment  were 
unquestionable.  They  had  the  full  confidence  of  the 
people,  and  were  conscious  of  the  responsibilities  of 
their  office.  In  many  a  town  of  the  mining-region,  the 
pioneers  still  remember  their  names  with  respect,  and 
still  smile  over  their  eccentricities.  One  of  them,  when 
dying,  left  "all  his  money,  after  paying  funeral  ex- 
penses "  (some  five  hundred  dollars),  to  "  the  boys  for 
a  treat;"  and  it  was  duly  spent  in  the  saloons  of  the 
camp.  Yet  he  is  said  to  have  dealt  out  justice  with 
firmness  and  good  sense :  his  official  conduct  was  sat- 
isfactory. 

The  race  of  such  "  miners-justices  "  has  disappeared ; 
and  the  office  has  shrunk  each  year  to  lesser  powers  and 
narrower  duties,  until  it  is  now  only  the  smallest  wheel 
in  the  complex  judiciar  machinery  of  the  Common- 
wealth. But  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  fact,  that  socially 
the  position  held  to-day  by  a  justice  of  the  peace  in 
the  old  mining-region  retains  something  of  its  former 
prestige  and  dignity :  the  justice  is  often  "  judge  "  or 
"  squire,"  terms  that  one  seldom  hears  thus  applied  iii 
the  valley  counties. 

was  lent  me  by  the  kindness  of  Mr.  William  G.  Dinsmore  of  Oakland, 
California. 


CHAPTER  XVII.     • 

ORGANIZATION    OF    TOWN    GOVERNMENTS    BY    THE 
MINERS. 

The  nature  of  the  town  organizations  adopted  by  the 
miners  in  a  number  of  instances  next  claims  our  atten- 
tion. As  soon  as  a  camp  was  thought  to  be  "  perma- 
nent,"—  that  is,  supported  by  rich  mines,  and  by  lesser 
and  tributary  districts,  —  there  was  always  talk  of  town 
government;  perhaps  from  those  used  to  the  town 
councils  of  the  Eastern  States,  perhaps  from  ambitious 
politicians.  Sometimes  the  compromise  that  was  made 
consisted  in  the  election  of  a  "committee  of  manage- 
ment," a  council  of  three  or  five  to  attend  to  town 
affairs.  Of  fully  organized  town  government,  however, 
the  best  examples  that  the  mines  afford  are  those  of 
Sonora  and  of  Nevada  City. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  struggle  to 
obtain  control  of  Sonora  Camp  in  the  days  of  '48,  when 
an  American  alcalde  was  first  chosen.  The  border-land 
position  of  the  camp  makes  all  its  history  interesting. 
Few  of  the  mining-camps  offer  material  of  equal  value 
for  our  investigation.  The  Americans  of  Sonora  and 
that  vicinity  were  from  the  first  outnumbered  by  the 
foreign  population,  and  only  united  action  saved  them 
from  being  overwhelmed.  There  were  but  nineteen 
"white  men,"  two  of  whom  were  Frenchmen,  four 
Spaniards,  and  the  rest  English,  Scotch,  and  Ameri- 
206 


ORGANIZATION   OF   TOWN   GOVERNMENTS.  207 

cans,  in  Sonora  Camp  in  1848 :  the  rest  of  its  popula- 
tion were  Mexicans  and  Chilians.  Before  the  close  of 
1849  the  total  population  was  five  thousand,  and  the 
camp  was  ruled  by  Americans.  The  manner  in  which 
town  organization  then  arose  Was  entirely  unforeseen 
and  unpremeditated. 

As  soon  as  the  rainy  season  of  1849-50  set  in,  mul- 
titudes of  miners,  many  of  them  Mexicans,  were  attacked 
with  scurvy,  owing  to  their  exclusive  diet  of  salt  meat, 
since  vegetables  could  be  obtained  only  in  small  quan- 
tities, and  at  enormous  prices.  The  resources  of  char- 
itable individuals  were  evidently  inadequate  to  cope 
with  the  evil,  and  it  was  proposed  to  organize  and 
establish  a  town  hospital.  Nov.  7,  1849,  this  idea  took 
form  in  the  creation  of  a  town  government,  it  being 
felt  that  every  thing  had  best  be  kept  under  one  manage- 
ment. Mr.  C.  F.  Dodge  was  then  the  alcalde  of  Sonora, 
and  he  was  asked  to  act  as  mayor  of  the  town.  A 
council  of  seven  members,  five  Americans  and  two 
Frenchmen,  were  elected  to  serve  until  further  notice. 
They  at  once  established  a  hospital,  which  was  success- 
fully maintained  for  more  than  six  months,  or  until  the 
ravages  of  scurvy  were  checked. 

Expenses  were  enormous.  Lime-juice  cost  five  dol- 
lars a  bottle,  potatoes  one  dollar  and  a  half  a  pound ; 
canned  fruits  and  all  anti-scorbutics  were  twenty-fold 
the  usual  prices.  Wages  of  servants  were  eight  dollars 
a  day. 

The  alcalde  dedicated  his  official  fees  to  hospital  uses, 
and  the  citizens  contributed  largely ;  but  the  chief 
financial  resource  was  soon  seen  to  consist  of  the  va- 
cant town  lots.  The  council,  shortly  after  its  organi- 
zation, ordered  a  survey  of  the  town,  and  had  quite  a 
number  of  new  streets  laid  out.     Up  to  this  time,  any 


208  MINING-CAMPS. 

one  who  chose  took  possession  of  a  vacant  lot,  with  the 
understanding  that  no  one  was  to  occupy  more  than 
one  such  lot  of  a  reasonable  size.  All  the  hillsides 
not  claimed  under  the  mining-laws  of  the  camp  were 
unfenced,  and  used  as  common  pastures  until  thus 
taken  up  for  building-purposes.  The  wdnding  streets 
of  the  earlier  portion  of  the  town  followed  the  base  of 
the  canon,  or  the  lines  of  old  pack-mule  trails  on  the 
hillside.  Land  had  possessed  no  value,  except  as  used; 
and  no  one  had  taken  more  than  he  needed,  for  that 
only  involved  the  building  of  more  brush  or  picket 
fence.  But  when  the  new  council  had  streets  laid  out, 
and  lots  surveyed,  it  gave  them  a  positive  value.  Sel- 
dom, if  ever  before,  has  an  American  town  attained  to 
a  population  of  several  thousand  without  a  great  deal 
of  very  lively  land-speculation;  but  the  miners  of 
Sonora  Camp  had  lived  in  blissful  unconsciousness  of 
that  resource. 

Just  about  the  time  the  survey  was  completed,  but 
before  the  town  council  had  asserted  any  particular 
rights  over  outside  lands,  the  first  State  Legislature 
met,  divided  the  State  into  twenty-seven  counties,  —  of 
which  Tuolumne  was  one,  —  and  selected  Sonora  as  its 
county-seat.  Before  the  latter  fact  was  known  outside 
of  the  committee-rooms,  one  of  the  legislators  wrote  to 
a  member  of  the  Sonora  town  council,  informing  him 
that  the  county-seat  question  had  been  settled  in  favor 
of  Sonora,  and  asked  him  to  "  take  some  of  the  boys, 
and  secure  possession  of  just  as  many  town  lots  as  pos- 
sible," expecting,  of  course,  to  share  in  the  profits. 

The  councillor  was  thoroughly  indignant.  He  walked 
into  town  meeting  that  very  night,  with  the  letter  in 
his  hand,  read  it  to  the  mayor  and  council, 'and  offered 
a  resolution,  which  was  unanimously  passed,  that  no 


OEGANIZATION  OF  TOWN  GOVERNMENTS.         209 

one  should  be  permitted  to  take  up  vacant  lots,  "  be- 
cause all  such  unoccupied  lands  do  belong  to  this  town 
in  its  corporate  capacity."  This  action  was  promptly 
enforced.  From  time  to  time,  the  lots  were  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder,  and  the  proceeds  devoted  to  the  town 
hospital. 

When  the  county  of  Tuolumne  was  fully  organized, 
it  was  found  that  the  town  government  could  have  no 
legal  existence  without  a  special  charter  from  the  Legis- 
lature. It  was  therefore  disbanded ;  and,  the  office  of 
alcalde  having  been  abolished,  the  only  officer  to  rule 
the  town  was  the  "miners'  justice  of  the  peace,"  the 
Justice  Barry  mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter.  But 
a  charter  was  procured;  and  under  it,  in  1851-52,  a 
mayor,  marshal,  attorney,  sherifP,  treasurer,  clerk,  re- 
corder, assessor,  and  seven  aldermen  were  elected. 
This  proved  too  expensive ;  and  in  1855  the  town  gov- 
ernment was  simplified,  under  a  new  charter,  to  a  board 
of  five  trustees,  with  merely  municipal  powers. 

The  early  Sonora  town-council  experiment  seems  in- 
teresting chiefly  because  of  its  spontaneity  of  growth. 
Established  to  secure  a  town  hospital,  and  relieve  the 
alcalde  of  its  extra  duties,  it  at  last  took  all  the  man- 
agement of  town  affairs  upon  its  shoulders ;  while  the 
mayor,  still  acting  as  alcalde,  decided  disputes  and 
criminal  cases  brought  before  him.  The  councillors 
received  no  salaries,  and  most  of  them  could  devote 
only  their  evenings  to  their  official  duties.^ 

1  As  illustrating  with  clearness  the  '*  political  atmosphere  "  of  the 
mining-camps  of  1850-51,  the  following  instance  deserves  attention. 
Tuolumne  County  elected  as  one  of  its  representatives  a  young  man 
whose  poverty  was  so  great,  that,  after  he  was  chosen,  the  citizens  of  his 
district  assembled,  regardless  of  party,  and  voted  him  a  gift  of  sev- 
eral hundred  dollars  to  buy  clothes,  pay  stage-fare  to  the  capital,  and 
live  comfortably  till  he  could  draw  his  salary.  He  made  the  best  of 
records,  afterwards  practised  law,  and  gained  a  competence. 


210  MTNING-CAMPS. 

Nevada  City  also  had  an  experience  of  town  govern- 
ment under  the  mining  rSgime.  The  camp  that  in  the 
spring  of  1850  was  only  a  collection  of  a  few  tents  and 
brush  huts,  grew  by  August  to  a  town  of  two  thousand 
inhabitants ;  while  within  a  radius  of  four  miles  a  popu- 
lation of  eight  thousand  men  were  at  work,  in  a  dozen  or 
more  lesser  camps.  On  Dec.  22,  the  "  Alta  California  " 
called  Nevada  "  a  frost-work  city ; "  for  hundreds  of 
miners  had  abandoned  the  region,  and  the  town  seemed 
in  the  last  stages  of  ruin.  In  the  spring  of  1851,  all 
mining-interests  revived,  and  the  town  soon  recovered 
its  former  prosperity.  Its  enthusiastic  citizens  now  pro- 
cured a  charter  for  a  city  government,  and  incorporated 
it  on  a  liberal  scale,  providing  for  a  mayor,  marshal, 
clerk,  recorder,  and  nine  aldermen,  including  the 
"president  of  the  council."  They  purchased  a  city- 
hall,  built  a  jail,  and  established  a  hospital ;  for  here, 
also,  miners  were  dying  of  scurvy. 

But  Nevada  City  had  no  common  lots  to  sell,  no  taxes, 
and  few  license  fees  were  collected ;  and  the  financial 
resources  of  the  organization  were  soon  at  an  end.  By 
September  the  town  government  had  run  itself  eight 
thousand  dollars  in  debt,  and  a  public  meeting  was 
called  to  consider  the  problem.  The  aldermen  agreed 
to  discharge  all  the  city  officials,  and  suspend  opera- 
tions. Early  the  following  spring,  the  State  Legislature 
repealed  the  charter.  Some  of  the  scrip  issued  by  the 
city  was  never  redeemed,  because  the  very  disastrous 
fires  which  occurred  late  in  the  gold-era  crippled  its 
resources  for  some  time.  In  1853  the  town  was  again 
incorporated,  under  a  less  expensive  form  of  govern- 
ment. 

Fifteen  or  twenty  mining-towns  received^  charters, 
and  organized  some  sort  of  town  government  during 


ORGANIZATION   OF   TOWN   GOVERNMENTS.  211 

the  gold-era.  Weaverville,  Shasta,  Oroville,  Grass 
Valley,  Nevada  City,  Jackson,  Placerville,  and  some 
places  that  are  now  but  waste  and  almost  deserted  vil- 
lages, organized  on  a  liberal  plan,  so  soon  as  the  day 
of  tents  and  rough  shanties  had  passed.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  a  great  deal  of  capital  went  into  per- 
manent investments  in  these  thriving  and  energetic 
towns.  Brick  blocks,  three-story  hotels,  stores,  banks, 
and  fine  residences  embowered  in  blossoms  and  sur- 
rounded by  lawns,  were  not  infrequent  long  before 
1856  in  all  the  towns  we  have  named.  Population 
lessened  as  the  mines  decayed ;  and  in  many  cases  such 
investments  proved  unprofitable,  or,  indeed,  nearly 
worthless.  But  the  spirit  of  confidence  that  led  miners 
to  organize  town  governments  so  soon  was  eminently 
praiseworthy.  Some  of  the  schemes  of  the  time  were 
notable.  A  costly  plank-road  between  Grass  Valley 
and  Marysville  was  discussed ;  plans  for  railroads  were 
made  public;  the  toll-road  system  developed  rapidly, 
and  was  very  important ;  local  improvements,  town- 
halls,  theatres,  costly  bridges,  met  with  hearty  indorse- 
ment. Unity  of  action,  and  sympathy  of  interests,  gift 
of  early  camp-life,  are  peculiarly  characteristic  of  moun- 
tain towns  of  the  gold-region,  even  at  the  present  time. 
The  towns  are  but  overgrown  and  permanently  settled 
camps.  Nothing  that  is  likely  to  happen  will  ever  de- 
stroy this  mining-camp  atmosphere,  that  still  pervades 
such  peaceful  and  orchard-surrounded  towns  as  El 
Dorado,  Auburn,  Grass  Valley,  with  the  loyalty  and 
earnestness,  the  strength  and  freedom,  of  their  tent  and 
rocker  period. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  DIFFICULTIES  WITH  FOREIGNERS  IN  VARIOUS 
CAMPS. 

The  heterogeneous  population  of  the  mining-region 
included  a  strange  medley  of  races  from  the  islands  and 
shores  of  the  Pacific,  from  the  provinces  of  Mexico, 
and  the  countries  of  Southern  Asia.  Outlaws,  des- 
peradoes, men  who  had  long  before  flung  defiance  in 
the  face  of  law  and  society,  were  far  too  abundant  in 
this  conglomerate  mass.  Difficulties  with  such  foreign- 
ers were  inevitable,  and  they  only  served  to  weld  the 
Americans  into  a  closer  union.  Sometimes,  however, 
the  Americans  were  unjust  and  overbearing,  or  were 
at  least  careless  and  indifferent  to  the  rights  of  others. 
It  is  an  old  story,  still  told  in  the  mines,  that  idlers  and 
gamblers  have  often  been  known  to  "  raise  a  stake  "  by 
a  double  collection  of  the  foreign-miners'  tax  from  Chi- 
nese or  Mexicans.  The  treatment  of  the  early  French 
miners,  who,  in  1849  and  1850,  were  forcibly  driven 
from  their  claims  in  several  camps,  was  simply  out- 
rageous ;  and  the  better  class  of  miners  did  not  always 
interfere  to  protect  them  against  the  bands  of  ruffians 
who  desired  their  property.  The  filibustering  expedi- 
tion of  Count  Raousset  to  Sonora,  with  its  romantic 
features  and  tragic  termination,  would  probably  never 
have  occurred,  had  it  not  been  for  the  attacks  which 
drove  so  many  Frenchmen  from  the  mines. 

212 


DIFFICULTIES   WITH  FOREIGNERS.  213 

As  for  the  Chinese,  there  were  large  numbers  of 
camps  where  none  were  allowed  to  work  or  hold  claims 
at  any  time.  They  now  find  employment  in  many  of 
the  old  and  nearly  exhausted  gulches,  working  over  the 
gravel,  and  often,  it  is  thought,  making  quite  valuable 
"  finds."  Their  patience,  perseverance,  and  industry  are 
tireless.  Even  at  the  present  time,  however,  there  are 
camps  within  whose  precincts  no  Chinaman  is  ever  al- 
lowed to  set  foot.  The  local  laws  of  Churn  Creek  Dis- 
trict, Shasta  County,  as  late  as  1882,  forbade  any  miner 
to  sell  a  claim  to  a  Chinaman,  or  to  give  employment  to 
one.  The  feeling  is,  that,  so  long  as  white  races  find  it 
pays  to  work  the  district,  they  shall  be  allowed  to  do 
so :  when  they  desert  the  camp,  the  Chinamen  may,  of 
course,  take  possession.  In  many  of  the  camps  of  the 
flush  period,  however,  Chinamen  were  allowed  to  hold 
and  work  claims,  by  paying  their  foreign-tax.  It  was 
the  experience  of  American  miners,  that  many  of  the 
Chinamen  were  adept  claim  and  sluice-box  thieves ;  and 
to  this  fact  the  beginnings  of  the  undoubted  prejudice 
against  them  can  be  traced. 

One  of  the  cases  where  indignation  against  foreigners 
had  much  justification  was  during  1850  and  1851,  in 
the  southern  mines.  In  June  of  the  former  year,  the 
collector  appointed  by  the  State  to  receive  the  "foreign- 
miners'  tax,"  then  thirty  dollars  a  month,  arrived  in 
Sonora.  This  sum  had  not  been  exorbitant  in  the 
newer  camps,  but  in  many  cases  men  began  to  find  it 
difficult  to  obtain  so  much.  The  foreigners,  chiefly 
Mexicans,  met,  and  denounced  it,  held  public  meet- 
ings, refused  to  pay  a  cent,  and  seemed  so  determined, 
that  rumors  went  abroad  to  the  effect  that  armed  re- 
sistance could  be  expected.  The  miners  of  the  sur- 
rounding camps  armed  themselves,  and,  to  the  number 


214  MINING-CAMPS. 

of  several  hundred,  marched  into  the  town,  set  a  watch, 
organized  patrols,  and  offered  their  services  to  the 
alcalde  "for  the  preservation  of  peace  and  the  sup- 
pression of  crime."  The  Spanish-Americans  in  Sonora 
and  in  several  Mexican  camps  adjoining,  or  not  over 
four  miles  distant,  seem  to  have  far  outnumbered  the 
tax-supporters,  and  there  was  every  reason  to  expect 
a  collision. 

About  this  time  many  of  the  Mexicans  left  their 
claims,  and,  retiring  to  the  mountain  fastnesses,  be- 
came outlaws ;  so  that,  in  a  few  weeks,  robberies  and 
murders  were  of  almost  daily  occurrence.  July  3  the 
citizens  of  Sonora  met  in  public  meeting  to  discuss 
"the  public  safety,  and  methods  of  self-protection." 
They  resolved  to  organize  a  rifle  company  "  of  twenty- 
five  men  good  and  true ; "  they  elected  a  captain,  and 
ordered  him  to  raise  his  company  at  once,  and  report  to 
the  new  "court  of  sessions."  They  also  chose  a  finance 
committee  of  three  members,  and  began  to  take  sub- 
scriptions from  different  individuals  and  camps. 

July  10  four  Mexicans  were  discovered  piling  brush 
upon  and  burning  the  bodies  of  two  American  miners. 
They  were  arrested,  and  hurried  into  Sonora.  A  crowd 
assembled;  a  jury  was  empanelled,  and  a  judge  chosen. 
The  defence  set  up  was,  that  the  bodies  had  been  lying 
there  for  several  days,  that  the  real  murderers  were 
unknown,  and  that  it  was  the  Mexican  custom  to  cre- 
mate the  bodies  of  the  dead.  But  by  this  hasty  and 
illegal  trial,  —  illegal,  because  the  court  of  sessions  was 
fully  organized,  and  the  case  came  within  its  jurisdic- 
tion,—  the  prisoners  were  condemned.  A  riata  was 
passed  over  the  limb  of  an  oak,  and  the  trembling  Mexi- 
cans brought  forward  to  meet  their  doom.  At  this 
exciting  moment  Judge  Tuttle,  one  of  the  bravest  and 


DIFFICULTIES   WITH  FOREIGNEES.  215 

best  of  the  pioneers  of  that  region,  accompanied  by- 
Judges  Marvin,  Radcliffe,  and  other  gentlemen,  arrived. 
Judge  Tuttle  made  a  thrillingly  earnest  appeal,  saying 
that  now  the  county  had  law,  had  courts,  and  could  not 
afford  to  disgrace  its  record.  The  prisoners  were  given 
up,  and  taken  to  jail  by  the  town  officers. 

The  next  week,  district  court  and  county  court  were 
both  in  session,  and  for  the  first  time.  Monday  morn- 
ing over  eighty  armed  citizens  of  the  town  marched 
through  the  streets;  and  three  hundred  miners  from 
"  Green  Flat  Diggins,"  where  the  murdered  Americans 
had  been  found,  arrived  to  see  the  laws  carried  out  in 
the  punishment  of  the  murderers.  Every  knife  and 
revolver  in  every  camp  within  a  radius  of  a  dozen  miles 
was  strapped  to  some  stalwart  miner's  side,  and  either 
already  in  Sonora,  or  on  its  way  to  that  place.  The 
assembled  miners  were  assured  that  speedy  and  reliable 
justice  would  be  afforded,  and  they  prepared  to  remain 
till  the  end  of  the  trial. 

Rumors  of  an  uprising  in  a  Mexican  camp  three  miles 
distant  were  so  numerous  that  the  sheriff,  with  a  posse 
of  thirty  American  miners,  went  thither,  arrested  one 
hundred  and  ten  Mexicans,  marched  them  to  Sonora, 
and  confined  them  in  a  corral  until  the  next  day,  when 
they  were  cross-examined  by  an  interpreter,  and,  prov- 
ing their  innocence,  were  released. 

Tuesday  was  the  beginning  of  the  famous  trial. 
Fully  two  thousand  armed  and  excited  men  were  in 
the  streets  of  the  town.  There  was  much  talk ;  but  the 
resolution  to  support  the  law,  and  abide  by  the  decision 
of  the  court,  was  steadily  increasing  in  strength.  Part 
of  Tuesday  and  all  day  Wednesday,  the  trial  continued. 
"  There  did  not  appear  a  tittle  of  evidence  against  the 
prisoners,  and  the  jury  acquitted  then^-"     3o,  at  least, 


216  MINING-CAMPS. 

runs  the  report  of  the  newspapers  of  the  time.  And 
the  crowd,  ashamed,  it  may  be,  of  their  haste  and  eager- 
ness for  blood,  signified  their  approval,  and  separated 
in  silence. 

Before  the  close  of  this  eventful  day,  there  were  ac- 
counts of  new  outrages  and  murders.  A  public  meet- 
ing was  held,  and  Judge  Tuttle  was  the  speaker.  He 
urged  the  necessity  of  active  organization  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  crime,  and  secure  the  safety  of  citizens. 
The  chairman  of  the  meeting  appointed  a  committee 
of  safety,  which  called  a  mass-meeting  to  assemble  four 
days  later,  and  strengthened  the  town-patrol. 

Resolutions  adopted  at  this  mass-meeting  were  to  the 
effect  that  — 

"  Whereas,  The  lives  and  property  of  Americans  are  in  danger 
from  lawless  marauders  of  every  clime,  class,  and  creed  under  the 
canopy  of  heaven,  and  scarcely  a  day  passes  that  we  do  not  hear 
of  the  commission  of  murders  and  robberies : 

"  Resolved,  That  all  foreigners  in  Tuolumne  County,  except  per- 
sons of  respectable  character,  be  required  to  leave  within  fifteen 
days  unless  they  obtain  a  permit  from  the  authorities  hereinafter 
named. 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  authorities  referred  to  be  a  committee  of 
three,  to  be  chosen  by  the  American  citizens  of  each  camp. 

"  Resolved,  That  all  foreigners  in  this  county  (except  such  as 
have  a  permit)  are  notified  to  turn  over  their  weapons  to  the  com- 
mittee, and  take  a  receipt  for  the  same." 

The  other  resolutions  provide  for  carrying  this  plan 
into  effect.  But  the  really  dangerous  men,  the  scattered 
Mexican  outlaws,  whose  camps  were  in  the  mountain 
fastnesses,  and  hardly  two  nights  in  the  same  place, 
could  not  be  reached  by  any  such  method  ;  and  it  was 
not  enforced  except  in  a  few  camps  where  difficulties  of 
an  aggravated  type  had  occurred. 

The  next  year,  an  attempt  having  been  to  fire  the 


DIFFICULTIES   WITH  FOEEIGKEKS.  217 

town,  and  an  organized  band  of  thieves  having  been 
discovered,  a  new  vigilance-committee  was  established, 
which  was  in  session  several  times  a  day  for  three  or 
four  weeks ;  which  punished  petty  crimes  by  whipping, 
and  banished  a  number  of  suspected  persons.  This 
committee  seems  to  have  refrained  from  all  excesses, 
and  it  turned  over  to  the  civil  authorities  the  only  man 
that  was  brought  before  its  tribunal  charged  with  a 
capital  offence.  When  order  was  restored,  the  vigi- 
lantes disbanded,  and  left  the  regularly  constituted 
authorities  in  full  authority. 

The  "  southern  mines "  furnish  some  of  the  worst 
cases  of  mob-law,  as  well  as  some  of  the  best  examples 
of  law-abiding,  justice-seeking  organization.  The  great- 
est number  of  difficulties  with  foreigners  occurred  there, 
and  some  of  the  worst  quarrels  over  disputed  claims 
were  in  those  southern  camps.  It  has  been  said  by 
some  observers,  that  men  were  readier  to  resort  to  the 
arbitrament  of  the  revolver  in  the  southern  than  in  the 
northern  mines.  If  such  were  the  fact,  it  would  not  be 
surprising;  for  gold-seekers  from  the  South-west  and 
South  predominated  in  those  camps,  as  men  from  the 
North-west  and  North  did  in  the  camps  north  of  Placer 
County.  Organization  in  the  southern  camps  was 
under  greater  difficulties,  but  it  seems  to  have  been 
fully  as  complete  and  successful  as  in  the  more  north- 
ern camps.  Some  of  the  most  orderly  of  the  southern 
camps  were  controlled  by  New-England  men,  some  by 
Georgians  and  Virginians.  The  steady  evolution  of 
society  in  these  camps,  out  of  the  chaotic  mixture  of 
men  of  every  race  and  characteristic,  deserves  our  ad- 
miration ;  but  a  close  study  of  the  newspapers  of  the 
time,  and  the  evidence  of  pioneers,  convinces  us  that  it 
is  difficult  for  the  American  frontiersman  to  avoid  treat- 


218  MINING-CAMPS. 

ing  the  Mexican  frontiersman  with  a  sort  of  contempt- 
ious  defiance.  Joaquin  Murietta,  and  his  outlaw  reign 
of  years,  was  the  natural  result,  not  of  deliberate  injus- 
tice on  the  part  of  the  American  miners  as  a  body,  but 
of  blameworthy  carelessness  that  too  often  permitted 
the  viler  elements  of  the  camp  to  enforce  by  actions 
their  rude  race-hatred  of  the  "  Greasers."  This  tend- 
ency to  despise,  abuse,  and  override  the  Spanish- 
American,  may  well  be  called  one  of  the  darkest  threads 
in  the  fabric  of  Anglo-Saxon  frontier  government. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  FAMOUS  SCOTCH-BAR  DECISION. 

There  was  a  very  remarkable  example  of  the  gold- 
seekers'  methods  of  settling  serious  disputes,  which 
once  occurred  in  the  northern  part  of  California.  It 
fairly  deserves  to  be  termed  one  of  the  most  important 
and  interesting  of  litigations  in  the  early  history  of  the 
mines.  In  many  respects,  it  is  even  entitled  to  rank 
as  the  unique  example  of  a  higher  type  of  organized 
effort  to  do  the  best  thing  possible  under  each  and 
every  circumstance,  than  is  shown  in  the  history  of  any 
other  mining-camp  of  the  period.  The  following  brief 
account  of  the  case  rests  upon  the  recollections  of  one 
of  the  most  genial,  generous,  and  intelligent  of  early 
Californians,  —  Mr.  Anton  Roman,  first  publisher  of  the 
"  Overland  Monthly,"  who  spent  sixteen  months  dur- 
ing 1850  and  1851  in  several  of  the  most  successful 
mining-camps  in  Klamath  and  Siskiyou.  Upon  his  sto- 
ries and  recollections  some  of  Mr.  Francis  Bret  Harte's 
best  prose-work  is  founded ;  and  they  still  afford  a  mine 
of  invaluable  material,  literary  and  scientific. 

Scotch  Bar  is  rather  indefinitely  located  by  my  in- 
formant as  "  in  the  Siskiyou-Klamath  region."  It  was  a 
highly  prosperous  camp,  "  booming  "  as  the  miners  said ; 
and  the  fame  of  its  rich  placers  had  already  extended 
to  Trinity,  Shasta,  and  Butte,  attracting  traders,  pros- 
pectors, and  parasites  of  the  camp.     Exactly  what  local 

219 


220  MINING-CAMPS. 

laws  and  local  officers  the  camp  had,  we  do  not  know ; 
but  probably  much  the  same  that  were  known  to  dis- 
tricts in  the  central  part  of  the  State.  It  is  likely  that 
they  had  elected  a  justice  of  the  peace,  allowing  him 
to  settle  their  disputes  over  boundaries,  and  to  keep 
a  record  of  their  claims.  At  least,  so  it  appears,  the 
camp  had  been  peaceable,  law-abiding,  and  contented ; 
the  miners  had  dwelt  together  in  concord,  much  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Arcadian  days  of  '48  ;  and  it  was  "  a  royally 
good  camp  to  live  in." 

Some  time  early  in  1851,  a  discovery  of  some  very 
"rich  gravel,"  or  mining-ground,  was  made,  and  made 
in  such  a  way,  also,  that  two  equally  strong  parties  of 
prospectors  laid  claim  to  it  at  the  same  time.  There 
were  about  a  dozen  men  in  each  party,  and  both  groups 
were  entirely  honest  in  their  belief  of  the  justice  of 
their  respective  claims.  Each  clan  at  once  began  to 
increase  its  fighting  numbers  by  enlistments  from  tho 
rest  of  the  camp,  till  twenty  or  thirty  men  were  sworn 
to  each  hostile  assembly.  The  ground  in  dispute  was 
so  situated  that  it  was  best  worked  in  partnership,  and 
thirty  claims  of  the  ordinary  size  allowed  in  tlie  dis- 
trict would  occupy  all  the  desirable  territory  of  the 
new  find.  So  there  were  two  rival  companies  ready  to 
begiA  work,  and  no  law  whatever  to  prevent  a  pitched 
battle. 

It  began  to  look  more  and  more  like  fighting. 
Men  were  asked  to  join,  and  bring  their  bowies,  revolv- 
ers, and  shotguns.  Men  were  even  forced  to  refuse  the 
honor,  against  their  wills,  because,  forsooth,  there  were 
no  more  weapons  left  in  camp.  The  two  opposing  par- 
ties took  up  their  stations  on  the  banks  of  the  gulch ; 
there  was  further  and  excited  talk ;  at  last  there  were 
eight  or  ten  shots  interchanged,  fortunately   injuring 


THE   FAMOUS   SCOTCH-BAR   DECISION.  221 

no  one.  But  by  this  time  the  blood  of  the  combatants 
was  fairly  roused;  the  interests  at  stake  were  very 
large ;  neither  side  proposed  to  yield :  and  the  next 
minute  there  probably  would  have  been  a  hand-to-hand 
conflict,  except  for  an  unlooked-for  interference. 

The  camp,  the  commonwealth,  the  community  at 
large,  had  taken  the  field  the  very  moment  the  first 
shot  was  fired.  Dozens  and  hundreds  of  men,  five 
minutes  before  mere  spectators  of  the  difficulty,  at  once 
compelled  a  parley,  negotiated  a  truce,  and  urged  a  re- 
sort to  legal  methods.  The  moment  this  compromise 
was  suggested,  the  combatants  laid  aside  their  weapons. 
They  knew  there  was  no  legal  authority  within  twenty 
miles,  and  not  even  in  the  camp  itself  any  force  able 
to  keep  them  from  fighting;  for  persuasion  was  the 
only  argument  used,  and  it  is  not  supposable  that  the 
rest  of  the  miners  would  have  actually  fought  to  pre- 
vent fighting.  It  was  a  victory  of  common-sense,  a 
triumph  of  the  moral  principles  learned  in  boyhood  in 
New-England  villages  and  on  Western  prairies.  "  Men 
more  thoroughly  fearless  never  faced  opposing  weap- 
ons ;  "  but  the  demand  for  a  fair  and  full  trial  in  open 
court  found  an  answering  chord  in  every  bosom. 
Both  parties  willingly  agreed  to  submit  to  arbitration  ; 
but  not  to  the  ordinary  arbitration  of  the  "miners' 
court,"  or  of  the  "miners'  committee,"  or  of  the  "  miners' 
alcalde,"  all  of  which  we  have  heretofore  described. 
They  thought  out  a  better  plan,  and  adopted  it  after 
a  few  moments'  discussion. 

The  rude  and  often  biassed  jury  of  the  camp  was 
repudiated  by  both  contestants  alike.  None  of  the 
ordinary  forms  of  tribunal  known  to  the  mining-region 
seemed  to  them  entirely  adequate  to  this  momentous 
occasion.     They  chose  a  committee,  and  sent  it  to  San 


222  MINING-CAMPS. 

Francisco.  There  they  had  three  or  four  of  the  best 
lawyers  to  be  found,  engaged  for  each  party  ;  and  they 
also  engaged  a  judge  of  much  experience  in  mining- 
cases.  It  was  a  great  day  at  Scotch  Bar  when  all  this 
legal  talent  arrived  to  decide  the  ownership  of  the  most 
valuable  group  of  claims  on  the  river, — claims  that 
had  been  lying  absolutely  idle,  untouched  by  any  one, 
guarded  by  camp-opinion  and  by  the  sacred  pledges  of 
honor,  ever  since  the  day  of  the  compact  between  the 
rival  companies. 

Well,  the  case  was  tried  with  all  possible  formality, 
and  as  legally  as  if  it  had  occurred  within  the  civil 
jurisdiction  of  a  district-court.  It  is  not  reported  in 
any  of  the  California  law-books ;  but  no  mining-case 
ever  commanded  better  talent,  or  elicited  more  exhaus- 
tive and  brilliant  arguments.  The  lawyers  and  judge 
were  there  to  settle  the  case ;  the  entire  camp  wanted  it 
settled ;  both  parties  to  the  dispute  were  anxious  to  find 
out  who  the  real  owners  were.  In  order  to  show  the 
childlike  sense  of  fairness  the  miners  had,  we  should 
mention  that  before  the  trial  began  it  was  arranged  by 
mutual  consent  that  the  winners  should  pay  costs.  To 
the  losers,  it  was  sufficient  to  have  failed  to  prove  title 
to  such  rich  claims:  they  must  not  be  made  still  poorer. 

Now,  in  ordinary  cases  of  camp-rule,  there  is  often 
too  much  compromise :  one  claimant  gets  less  than  he 
deserves,  while  the  other  gets  more.  But  in  this  justly 
famous  Scotch-Bar  case,  there  was  in  the  end  a  verdict 
squarely  for  one  side,  and  squarely  against  the  other. 
The  defeated  party  took  it  placidly,  without  a  murmur ; 
nor  then,  nor  at  any  other  time,  were  they  ever  heard 
to  complain.  The  cheerfulness  of  their  acceptance  of 
the  verdict  was  not  the  least  gratifying  episode  of  the 
famous  trial. 


THE  FAMOUS   SCOTCH-BAR   DECISION.  223 

*'  Ah  1  it  was  a  great  case,"  writes  our  informant,  after  an  inter- 
view with  Mr.  Roman.  "  The  whole  camp  was  excited  over  it  for 
days  and  weeks.  At  last,  when  the  case  was  decided,  the  claim  was 
opened  by  the  successful  party ;  and  when  they  reached  bed-rock, 
and  were  ready  to  '  clean  up,'  we  all  knocked  off  work,  and  came 
down  and  stood  on  the  banks,  till  the  ravine  on  both  sides  was 
lined  with  men.  And  I  saw  them  take  out  gold  with  iron  spoons, 
and  fill  pans  with  solid  gold,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  dollars. 
Ah  I  it  was  a  famous  claim,  worth  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars." 

On  the  bank,  along  with  these  hundreds  of  specta- 
tors, stood  the  defeated  contestants,  cheerful  and  even 
smiling :  it  was  not  their  gold,  any  more  than  if  it  had 
been  in  Africa.  And  the  successful  miners  brought 
their  gold  out  on  the  bank,  divided  it  up  among  them- 
selves,—  so  many  pounds  apiece, — and  each  went  to  his 
tent  to  thrust  the  treasure  under  his  blankets  till  a  good 
opportunity  arrived  for  sending  it  to  San  Francisco. 

The  community  capable  of  that  Scotch-Bar  case  was 
a  community  which  could  be  trusted  to  the  uttermost. 
Put  it  down  on  a  desert  island,  and  it  would  organize  a 
government,  pick  out  its  best  men,  punish  its  criminals, 
protect  its  higher  interests,  develop  local  institutions ; 
and  soon,  unless  its  natural  surroundings  forbade,  there 
would  be  a  healthy,  compact,  energetic  state,  with 
capital  city,  seaports,  commerce,  navy,  and  army.  Put 
it  down  on  a  new  continent,  and  it  would  eventually 
possess,  control,  and  develop  all  its  resources  and  ener- 
gies; doing  the  work  that  Rome  did  for  Italy,  that  the 
Puritans  did  for  New  England,  and  through  New  Eng- 
land for  the  United  States.  And  if  the  evidence  of 
travellers,  of  the  pioneers  themselves,  and  of  the  insti- 
tutions they  organized,  can  be  trusted,  there  were  many 
such  camps  in  California.  The  Siskiyou  region  did  not 
monopolize  that  habit  of  self-control,  of  acceptance  of 


224  MINING-CAMPS. 

the  situation,  of  submitting  questions  to  the  best  obtain- 
able courts,  and  of  abiding  by  their  decisions.  From 
Klamath  to  Colusa,  from  Siskiyou  to  Fresno,  from  Lake 
Bowman  to  Trinity  Peak,  manhood  and  honesty  ruled 
the  camps  of  the  miners.  Some  were  ruled  better  than 
others,  but  all  were  ruled  well. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

SPORADIC  ORGANIZATIONS.— CASES  OF  MOB-LAW. 

This  portion  of  our  subject  would  not  be  complete 
without  some  allusion  to  irregular  and  sporadic  forms 
of  miner  organization,  to  burlesque  meetings,  to  later 
forms  connected  closely  with  the  earlier  assemblages 
of  "  all  the  miners  of  the  district,"  and,  lastly,  to  cases  of 
mob-rule. 

Rough  and  Ready  Camp,  in  Nevada  County,  so  inter- 
esting by  reason  of  its  simple  and  effective  standing 
committee,  or  council,  affords  a  valuable  though  eccen- 
tric example  of  independence.  The  township  contains 
about  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven  square  miles,  and 
was  very  prosperous  in  1850,  when  a  miner  named 
Brundage  conceived  the  idea  of  having  a  permanent 
and  separate  organization  to  be  called  the  "State  of 
Rough  and  Ready."  He  called  a  meeting,  evidently  in 
dead  earnest,  and  proposed  the  scheme;  urging  that 
none  of  them  had  voted  for  the  State  Constitution,  nor 
helped,  through  delegates,  to  make  that  instrument. 
About  a  hundred  persons  favored  the  plan,  and  for 
some  time  he  continued  to  agitate  its  adoption ;  but  the 
funny  and  absurd  elements  of  the  proposal  so  appealed 
to  the  miner's  abundant  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  that  the 
entire  scheme  disappeared  at  last,  in  a  fit  of  irrepressi- 
ble and  Homeric  laughter.  It  became  a  topic  of  con- 
versation in  every  cabin,  and  beside  every  long-torn, 

225 


226  MINING-CAMPS. 

for  miles ;  but  the  State  of  California  was  good  enough 
for  the  light-hearted,  keen-witted  miners. 

A  curiously  burlesque  assembly  gathered  together  in 
Grass  Valley  in  the  winter  of  1852-53,  and  is  known 
in  local  history  as  "The  Hungry  Convention."  The 
winter  had  been  so  severe  that  supplies  were  short: 
bacon  and  flour  had  once  again  risen  to  the  prices  of 
1849.  Miners  could  not  work  their  claims,  and  were 
assembled  in  the  town,  spoiling  for  some  enterprise  or 
excitement.  So  a  meeting  was  called,  in  dignified  ear- 
nest, to  consider  whether  the  scarcity  of  provisions  could 
in  any  manner  be  relieved.  Every  one  soon  saw,  that, 
in  the  condition  of  the  roads,  there  was  nothing  for  it 
except  patience :  the  merchants  would  secure  supplies 
at  the  earliest  moment  possible.  The  meeting  imme- 
diately degenerated  into  a  wild  burlesque.  Speeches  of 
the  most  desperate  and  communistic  order  were  made, 
and  hailed  with  shouts  of  laughter  and  applause.  A 
duly  elected  committee  reported,  declaring  war  upon 
San  Francisco,  and  their  resolve  to  have  supplies  thence 
"peacably  if  we  can,  forcibly  if  we  must." 

The  later  history  of  the  mining-camps  affords  innu- 
merable examples  of  the  keen  pleasure  that  the  average 
American  pioneer  takes  in  public  meetings,  in  resolu- 
tions, in  committees,  chairmen,  and  "big  talks."  He 
does  it  in  sober  earnest  most  of  the  time,  but  now  and 
then  he  does  it  for  the  mere  fun  of  the  thing.  The  men 
of  the  mining-region  are  even  now,  after  all  the  changes 
of  the  past  thirty  years,  a  race  of  men  peculiarly  ready 
to  assemble  for  free  discussion,  peculiarly  apt  to  have 
debates  in  the  district-schoolhouse,  to  start  arguments, 
and  listen  to  stump-speeches.  The  early  training  of 
miners'  courts  and  of  camp-life  has  left  its  impress  upon 
the  people  of  the  mining-region.     They  differ  from  the 


SPORADIC   ORGANIZATIONS.  227 

people  of  the  valleys,  as  the  mountaineers  of  Tennessee 
differ  from  the  dwellers  in  the  lowlands.  But  they 
have  closer  and  better  organization,  a  more  abiding 
habit  of  seeking  each  other's  counsel,  of  meeting  in 
assemblies,  and  of  discussing  their  affairs,  than  ordinary 
mountaineers  have.  The  life  of  the  gold-seeker  brings 
men  closer  together  in  their  camps  and  districts,  and 
creates  links  of  town-life,  while  the  purely  pastoral 
mountains  still  remain  almost  a  wilderness. 

Yet  one  must  ask,  in  reviewing  the  subject  of  camp- 
government.  Did  the  machinery  of  justice  set  in  opera- 
tion by  the  miners  never  degenerate  into  the  weapon 
and  excuse  of  a  mob  ?  Were  the  innocent  never  pun- 
ished, the  guilty  allowed  to  go  free  ?  Did  not  feverish 
excitement  and  unreasoning  violence  too  often  rule? 
What,  after  all,  was  the  miners'  court,  but  an  appeal  to 
lynch-law,  as  that  term  is  now  understood  ?  Were  not 
council  government  and  alcalde  government,  scarcely 
less  than  the  miners'  court  itself,  based  on  the  will  of 
the  mob,  and  liable  to  strange  outbursts,  fluctuations, 
and  monstrosities  ? 

We  find,  throughout  the  mining-era,  sporadic  cases  of 
true  mob-law ;  of  men  being  hung  without  judge  or  jury, 
without  fair  trial,  and  perhaps  without  justification. 
Considering  the  population,  these  cases  were  scarcely 
more  numerous  than  in  the  Western  States  to-day. 
Regularly  organized  miners'  courts  proceeded  with  great 
care,  and  gave  the  prisoner  the  benefit  of  every  doubt. 
Those  men  who  were  killed  by  mobs  were  usually  caught 
red-handed  in  the  act.  In  one  notable  case,  a  murderer 
was  beaten  to  death  before  he  was  a  hundred  yards 
away,  by  pick-handles  caught  up  hastily  from  a  barrel 
in  front  of  a  store.  In  another  instance,  the  murderer 
was  stoned  to  death,  with  more  than  Hebrew  energy. 


228  MINING-CAMPS. 

before  he  could  climb  the  steep  banks  of  the  ravine 
where  his  victim  lay. 

The  men  who  had  led  in  organizing  miners'-courts 
were  the  first  to  advocate  their  abandonment  in  crim- 
inal cases  so  soon  as  the  county  organization  was  possi- 
ble, and  were  the  first  to  oppose  mob  violence.  In 
Nevada  County,  in  1850,  a  man  named  Studley  was 
falsely  accused  of  stealing  a  nugget  worth  three  hundred 
and  twelve  dollars  from  a  miner ;  and  the  crowd  seized 
him,  tied  him  to  a  tree,  and  proceeded  to  administer  a 
flogging.  Judge  Roberts  and  several  friends  were  pass- 
ing ;  and  they  rushed  into  the  crowd,  released  him,  and 
soon  proved  his  entire  innocence  of  the  theft.  At 
Rough  and  Ready,  in  1851,  two  miners,  Stewart  and 
Watson,  rode  into  the  town  one  afternoon,  and  saw  a 
stranger  being  led  by  a  mob  who  purposed  to  hang 
him.  They  drew  their  pistols,  ran  into  the  crowd, 
shouting,  "You  have  the  wrong  man:  let  go  of  th?.t 
man ! "  organized  a  committee,  secured  a  fair  trial ;  and 
in  an  hour  the  prisoner,  who  was  accused  of  having 
stolen  three  hundred  dollars,  was  set  free.  Cases  like 
these  were  not  the  work  of  camp-organization,  but  of 
the  roughs  and  hangers-on  of  the  camp.  And  even  the 
courts  at  that  time  awarded  capital  punishment  for 
grand  larceny .^  "  Law-abiding  citizens  from  the  first " 
is  what  Hon.  A.  A.  Sargent  calls  the  old  "  forty-niners." 
Nearly  always,  when  passion  and  prejudice  swayed  the 
crowd,  men  of  nerve  and  courage  were  at  hand  to 
check  the  tendency  to  mob-law.  Sometimes  it  was  the 
county  or  township  officers  who  first  interfered ;  as  at 


1  For  about  a  year,  1850-51,  a  law  which  permitted  a  jury  to  bring  in 
a  verdict  of  death  for  grand  larceny  was  on  the  statute-books.  Under 
this  law,  one  man  was  hung  in  Nevada  County,  one  in  Marysville,  one 
in  Sacramento,  and  one  in  Tuolumne  County. 


CASES  OF  MOB-LAW.  229 

Beckman's  Flat  in  1852,  when  a  miner  was  accused  by 
his  partner  of  theft,  and  was  about  to  be  hung  by  the 
crowd,  when  the  county  sheriff  and  the  district  attor- 
ney arrived  on  horseback,  and  rescued  the  prisoner,  who 
was  proved  innocent.  Perhaps  the  worst  case  of  mob 
violence  that  ever  occurred  in  the  northern  mines  was 
at  Newtown  Camp,  in  March,  1852,  where  a  jury  of 
twenty-four,  a  presiding  judge,  and  a  clamorous  crowd 
condemned  on  .the  merest  suspicion  of  theft  a  negro,  and 
hanged  him  immediately.  As  late  as  September,  1855, 
the  Grass  Valley  community,  roused  to  deep  indigna- 
tion against  incendiaries,  came  near  hanging  a  man  who 
was  found  lighting  his  pipe  near  some  unfinished  build- 
ings. In  1874  the  mountain  town  of  Truckee,  infested 
by  persons  of  bad  character,  was  purified  by  a  secret 
organization  known  as  "601,"  which  killed  one  person, 
and  severely  wounded  another,  besides  banishing  quite 
a  number. 

Cases  of  lynch-law  occur  from  time  to  time  in 
almost  every  frontier  community,  and  too  often  in 
older  communities  also.  But  the  difference  between 
the  true  miner-courts  of  the  gold-era,  and  such  cases  of 
mob-law,  is  fundamental  and  generic.  Lynch-law,  in 
the  plain,  every-day  acceptance  of  the  term,  is  the  work 
of  an  association  of  men  who  have  determined  to  vio- 
lently expedite,  or  to  suddenly  change  the  course  of,  judi- 
cial procedure  in  one  individual  case.  They  announce 
no  new  laws,  create  no  new  system,  add  nothing  what- 
ever to  the  jurisprudence  of  the  land.  The  moment 
the  piece  of  work  they  were  banded  together  to  do  is 
accomplished,  they  separate,  and  the  association  ceases 
to  exist.  They  keep  no  records  of  their  proceedings ; 
the  names  of  their  leaders  are  sedulously  concealed  ;  and 
the  regular  officers  of  the  law  are  often,  in  the  discharge 


230  MINING-CAMPS. 

of  their  duty,  brought  into  open  collision  with  the 
lynchers.  The  utmost  that  may  be  said  for  them  is 
that  they  often,  though  unintentionally,  compel  better 
administration  of  the  laws;  but,  on  the  whole,  lynch- 
law  is  manifestly  selfish,  cowardly,  passionate,  un- 
American. 

In  every  important  particular,  the  organizations  of 
the  typical  mining-camps,  which  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, offer  sharply  outlined  contrasts.  Camp-law  has 
never  been  the  enemy  of  time-tried  and  age-honored 
judicial  system,  but  its  friend  and  forerunner.  Axe  of 
pioneer  and  pick  of  miner  have  levelled  the  forests,  and 
broken  down  the  ledges  of  rock,  to  clear  a  place  for  the 
stately  structures  of  a  later  civilization.  Rude  moun- 
tain courts,  rude  justice  of  miner-camps,  truth  reached 
by  short  cuts,  decisions  unclouded  by  the  verbiage  of 
legal  lexicons,  a  rough-hewn,  sturdy  system  that  pro- 
tected property,  suppressed  crime,  prevented  anarchy,  — 
such  were  the  facts ;  and  on  these,  frontier  government 
rests  its  claims  to  recognition  as  other  than  mob-law, 
and  better  than  passionate  accident. 

Later  illustrations  of  vigilants-justice  than  those  of 
California  can  readily  be  found.  When,  after  a  reign  of 
terror  almost  unexampled  in  American  frontier  history, 
the  tried  and  true  miners  and  merchants  of  Montana 
organized  during  the  winter  of  1863-64,  and  in  a  few 
weeks  hung  twenty-four  desperadoes  and  murderers, 
they  performed  a  solemn  duty  laid  upon  them  as  Ameri- 
can citizens.  The  present  peace,  order,  and  prosperity 
of  that  empire  in  the  high  Rockies,  the  "  land  of  the 
silver  bow,"  as  its  children  love  to  call  it,  are  the 
result  of  this  acceptance  of  weighty  responsibilities. 
Not  until  nearly  a  hundred  persons  had  been  waylaid, 
robbed,  and  slain,  in  various  parts  of  the  Territory,  by 


CASES   OF   MOB-LAW.  231 

members  of  a  fully  organized  band  of  assassins,  did 
society  accept  the  challenge,  and  supply  the  absence  of 
civil  authority  with  the  military  firmness  of  the  Vigi- 
lantes. It  is  a  matter  of  history,  that  this  organization, 
like  that  of  San  Francisco,  never  hung  an  innocent  man, 
and  that,  when  its  work  was  done,  it  quietly  disbanded. 
In  studying  the  nature  of  the  mining-camps  of  Cali- 
fornia, we  are  irresistibly  compelled  to  think  of  the 
whole  race  of  American  pioneers,  from  the  days  of 
Boone  and  Harrod  to  the  days  of  Carson  and  Bridger ; 
heroic  forest  chivalry,  heroic  conquerors  of  the  prairies, 
heroic  rulers  of  the  mountain  wilderness,  ever  forcing 
back  the  domains  of  savage  and  wild  beast.  Well  did 
one  of  the  most  eloquent  of  American  lecturers  once 
exclaim,  — 

"  Woe  to  the  felon  upon  whose  track  is  the  American  borderer  ! 
Woe  to  the  assassin  before  a  self-enipanneled  jury  of  American 
foresters  1  No  lie  will  help  him,  no  eloquence  prevail ;  no  false 
plea  can  confuse  the  clear  conceptions  or  arrest  the  just  judgment 
of  a  frontier  court."  ^ 

When  the  pioneers  of  the  newer  West  pushed  into 
California,  adding  the  leaven  of  such  ideas  to  the  mass 
of  ancient  Spanish  civilization ;  when  youth  and  energy 
from  older  communities  of  the  Atlantic  States,  and 
adventurers  from  every  land  under  the  sun,  joined  in 
the  famous  gold-rush  of  1849,  —  the  marvel  of  marvels 
is,  that  mob-law  and  failure  of  justice  were  so  infrequent, 
that  society  was  so  well  and  so  swiftly  organized. 

1  Dr.  John  C.  Lord,  lecture  on  "  Land  of  Ophir; "  delivered  in 
Buffalo,  February,  1849. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

LOCAL  LAND  LAWS  AND  LEGISLATION  FROM  1&48  TO  1884. 

Heretofore  we  have  considered  only  the  appear- 
ance, general  government,  and  criminal  procedure  of 
the  early  ^mining-camps;  but  there  is  a  broad  j6eld  of 
special  mining-jurisprudence  as  yet  comparatively  un- 
touched, and  that,  also,  the  field  of  most  permanent 
value  and  greatest  historical  interest.  The  civil  regu- 
lations of  the  miners  were  more  varied  and  numerous 
than  their  criminal  codes ;  and,  reduced  to  their  primary 
significance,  they  were  "land-laws  of  the  frontier." 

It  is  difficult  to  express  the  supreme  importance  of 
laws  which  govern  the  ownership  of  land.  The  social, 
economic,  and  political  history  of  the  human  race  has 
turned  upon  the  pfvot  of  changes  in  systems  of  land- 
tenure  ;  and  here  is  a  battle-ground  of  the  future,  as  of 
the  past.  Nothing  which  serves  to  illustrate  the  work- 
ings of  any  land-system,  or  of  any  method  by  which 
lands  were  actually  held  in  any  community,  can  ever 
be  called  irrelevant  or  worthless ;  for  the  entire  field  of 
study  is  so  broad,  and  broken  into  so  many  angles,  that 
each  ray  of  light  is  needed.  Earnest  students  have 
explained  the  prominent  features  of  the  land-system  of 
the  ancient  Germans,  and  have  followed  its  history  to 
the  present  time :  they  have  told  us  how  the  primitive 
equality  of  the  Mark  system  gave  way  in  some  remote 
past  to  the  allodial  system  of  village  life,  and  how  the 

232 


LOCAL  LAND   LAWS   AND   LEGISLATION.  233 

holdings  of  lands  in  common  yielded  slowly  to  rights  of 
separate  ownership  and  inequality  of  estate,  until  thus 
the  foundations  of  royal  families  and  of  feudal  duties 
were  laid.  The  ownership  of  land  among  the  Saxons 
of  the  fifth  century  "was  the  outward  expression,  rather 
than  the  basis,  of  political  freedom,"  so  Mr.  Stubbs  tells 
us,  "  and  in  itself  a  usufruct  rather  than  a  possession." 
Landed  property  in  England  before  the  Norman  con- 
quest was  of  four  distinct  kinds,  —  the  folk-land,  belong- 
ing to  the  nation ;  the  common-land,  held  by  communities, 
as  it  is  still  held  under  the  Russian  Mir  system,  by  the 
villagers  of  India,  and  in  the  pueblos  of  New  Mexico ; 
the  heir-land,  which  had  become  partially  alienated  from 
the  common-lands,  and  could  pass  by  will,  perhaps  by 
purchase,  with  the  consent  of  all  the  members  of  the 
community ;  lastly,  the  hook-land,  with  its  full  and  sepa- 
rate ownership,  under  a  grant  from  king  and  witan. 
At  last  the  hereditary  freemen  of  the  township  became 
the  tenants  of  the  lords'  manor,  and  the  modern  system 
of  individual  ownership  of  land  was  ultimately  devel- 
oped. 

Now,  the  study  of  the  mining-camps  of  the  Far  West 
reveals  the  presence  of  primitive  Germanic  ideas  more 
clearly  in  their  land-laws  than  in  any  other  department 
of  their  jurisprudence.  The  rights  of  the  individual 
over  land  were  strictly  subordinate  to  the  rights  of  the 
camp,  for  use  was  made  the  proof  of  ownership.  Then, 
also,  the  legislative  enactments  of  the  mining-camp 
clustered  with  peculiar  force  about  the  central  question 
of  land-tenure ;  and  a  large  body  of  laws  was  thus 
created,  setting  forth  with  great  exactness  the  size  of  a 
claim,  the  conditions  under  which  it  could  be  held,  the 
circumstances  which  would  work  its  forfeiture,  and  the 
methods  of  settling  disputes  in  reference  to  its  possession. 


234  MININGS-CAMPS. 

Moreover,  the  establishing  of  district  land-laws  led  in- 
evitably to  meetings  of  the  miners  of  many  districts, 
who  harmonized  their  diverse  district  codes  into  one 
which  should  be  binding  upon  all  the  miners  within  the 
county,  —  a  still  further  step  in  institutional  progress. 

The  claims  of  each  district  were  numbered  and  re- 
corded, and  their  size  was  according  to  local  regulation. 
The  miners'  meeting,  when  sitting  to  decide  upon  ques- 
tions of  this  sort,  was  in  fact  like  a  local  legislature, 
or  a  committee  of  the  whole.  It  decided  how  many 
claims  a  person  could  hold  ;  how  much  work  he  had  to 
do  upon  each  one  to  retain  possession ;  what  forms  of 
conveyance  were  requisite ;  what  relative  rights  and 
duties  the  owners  of  adjoining  claims  had ;  what  consti- 
tuted abandonment  of  a  claim  ;  in  what  manner  riparian 
rights  could  be  secured  and  maintained ;  lesser  regula- 
tions about  water-supply ;  rights  of,  or  restrictions  upon, 
aliens  in  the  camp ;  and  hundreds  of  cognate  subjects. 
It  could  levy  assessments  for  general  or  particular  ex- 
penses of  the  camp  as  a  body  corporate,  and  could  at 
any  time  adopt  such  new  regulations  as  seemed  desir- 
able for  preserving  and  protecting  private  rights.  And 
these  powers  of  the  miners'  meeting,  or  of  committees, 
or  officers  appointed  by  them,  lasted  long  after  the 
State  was  organized. 

In  each  new  district,  the  framing  of  local  mining- 
laws  became  the  most  important  legislative  duty  of 
the  miners.  The  laws  of  the  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  camps  that  grew  and  decayed  in  the  Pacific-coast 
region,  differing  though  they  did  in  many  particulars, 
all  agree  in  recognizing  discovery  and  appl'opriation  of 
mineral  property  as  the  source  of  title ;  and  develop- 
ment by  use  and  working,  as  the  condition  of  continued 
possession.     This  acceptance  of  the  law  of  equal  owner- 


LOCAL  LAND   LAWS   AND   LEGISLATION.  235 

ship  in  the  gifts  of  nature  deserves  more  than  a  passing 
notice.  Probably  every  man  in  the  gold-region  had 
been  educated  in  the  doctrine  of  individual  ownership 
of  land:  yet  this  instinctive  return  to  first  principles, 
this  adoption  of  the  ancient  idea  of  "  free  mining-lands," 
common  to  all  as  once  the  woods  and  fields  and  pastures 
of  England  were  common,  will  ever  prove  an  attractive 
theme  for  students  of  historical  and  social  topics.^ 

That  mining-claims  should  become  a  subject  of  specu- 
lation, of  sale  and  purchase,  of  transfer  from  owner  to 
owner,  seems  to  have  been  foreign  to  the  views  of  the 
earliest  placer-miners  of  California ;  and  in  some  camps 
a  man  who  sold  his  claim  could  not  take  up  another. 
But  it  was  not  long  before  claims  were  everywhere 
acknowledged  as  real-estate  property,  held  by  "  miners' 
title ; "  and  the  process  of  perfecting  minor  regulations 
went  on  with  great  rapidity.  For  all  this,  the  miners' 
sole  and  all-sufficient  plea  was  "  imperious  necessity ; " 
and  so  thoroughly  did  they  accomplish  the  work  of 
creating  a  land-law,  that  until  a  comparatively  recent 


1  Mr.  Henry  George,  in  his  Progress  and  Poverty,  writes:  — 
"  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  these 
men  were  brought  into  contact  with  land  from  which  gold  could  be 
obtained  by  the  simple  operation  of  washing  it  out.  .  .  .  The  novelty  of 
the  case  broke  through  habitual  ideas,  and  threw  men  back  upon  first 
principles;  and  it  was  by  common  consent  declared  that  this  gold- 
bearing  land  should  remain  common  property,  of  which  no  one  might 
take  more  than  he  could  reasonably  use,  or  hold  for  a  longer  time  than 
he  continued  to  use  it.  This  perception  of  natural  justice  was  acquiesced 
in  by  the  general  government  and  the  courts;  and  while  placer-mining 
remained  of  importance,  no  attempt  was  made  to  overrule  this  reversion 
to  primitive  ideas.  .  .  .  Thus  no  one  was  allowed  to  forestall  or  to  lock 
up  natural  resources.  Labor  was  acknowledged  as  the  creator  of  wealth, 
was  given  a  free  field,  and  secured  in  its  reward.  The  device  would  not 
have  assured  complete  equality  of  rights  under  the  conditions  that  in 
most  countries  prevail;  but  under  the  conditions  that  there  and  then 
existed,  —a  sparse  population,  an  unexplored  countr3^  and  an  occupa- 
tion in  its  nature  a  lottery,  —  it  secured  substantial  justice." 


236  MINING-CAMPS. 

date  the  titles  to  all  the  mining-property  of  the  newer 
States  and  Territories  has  rested  upon  these  local  laws 
and  miners'  enactments. 

We  therefore  proceed  to  a  minute  analysis  and  com- 
parison of  the  land-laws  and  consequent  regulations  by 
which  mining-camps  were  and  are  governed.  We  have 
taken  the  laws  actually  enforced  for  a  period  of  years 
in  many  of  the  leading  camps  of  various  States  and 
Territories;  sometimes  abbreviating  their  enactments, 
but  omitting  nothing  essential  to  a  full  understanding 
of  the  subject.  The  laws  in  their  complete  form  are 
usually  concise,  well-worded,  and  clear  in  meaning.  In 
some  cases  they  were  evidently  drawn  up  by  lawyers  ; 
in  other  cases,  by  persons  of  good  general  education, 
but  as  evidently  ignorant  of  law.  The  period  to  which 
they  refer  ranges  from  the  summer  of  1848  to  the  close 
of  1884. 

As  regards  the  important  question  of  the  number  of 
mining-districts  which  have  been  governed  by  local 
laws  of  their  own  devising,  the  United-States  Reports 
on  Mineral  Resources  state  that  in  1866  there  were 
over  five  hundred  organized  districts  in  California,  two 
hundred  in  Nevada,  and  one  hundred  each  in  Arizona, 
Idaho,  and  Oregon.  There  were,  perhaps,  fifty  each  in 
Montana,  New  Mexico,  and  Colorado.  Here  is  a  total 
of  more  than  eleven  hundred  camps  in  the  Far  West, 
as  late  as  1866.  Since  then  the  number  of  districts  has 
diminished  in  the  'older  mining-regions,  and  increased 
in  the  newer  ones ;  but  State  and  National  legislation 
has  in  a  great  degree  restricted  the  field  for  local  enact- 
ments. The  number  of  actual  placer-camps  in  Cali- 
fornia during  its  "  flush  period  "  is  not  recorded  ;  but  it 
could  not  have  fallen  below  five  hundred,  and  probably 
exceeded  that  figure.     Mining  was  carried  on  vigorously 


LOCAL   LAND    LAWS    AND   LEGISLATION.  237 

in  twelve  large  counties,  and  to  some  extent  in  three 
others. 

The  first  camp  to  which  we  shall  invite  the  attention 
of  our  readers  was  situated  five  miles  from  Sonora,  the 
county-seat  of  Tuolumne  County,  Cal.,  and  was  in  one  of 
the  richest  ravines  known  to  the  early  miners.  It  bore 
the  homely  appellation  of  "Jackass  Gulch"  from  the 
days  of  its  first  organization  in  1848,  but  its  earliest 
laws  were  not  committed  to  writing.  A  square  of  ten 
feet  of  ground  "  often  yielded  ten  thousand  dollars  from 
the  surface  dirt,"  and  ten  feet  square  was  the  maximum 
size  of  the  claim  allowed.  After  1851  the  laws,  as 
adopted  and  enforced  by  the  camp,  were  as  follows  :  — 

"  First,  That  each  person  can  hold  one  claim  by  virtue  of  occu- 
pation, but  it  must  not  exceed  one  hundred  feet  square. 

"  Second,  That  a  claim  or  claims,  if  held  by  purchase,  must  be 
under  a  bill  of  sale,  and  certified  to  by  two  disinterested  persons 
as  to  the  genuineness  of  signature  and  of  the  consideration  given. 

"  Third,  That  a  jury  of  five  persons  shall  decide  any  question 
arising  under  the  previous  article. 

"  Fourth,  That  notices  of  claims  must  be  renewed  every  ten  days 
until  water  to  work  the  said  claims  is  to  be  had. 

"  Fifth,  That,  as  soon  as  there  is  sufficiency  of  water  for  working 
a  claim,  five  days'  absence  from  said  claim,  except  in  case  of  sick- 
ness, accident,  or  reasonable  excuse,  shall  forfeit  the  property. 

"  Sixth,  That  these  rules  shall  extend  over  Jackass  and  Soldier 
Gulches,  and  their  tributaries." 

The  greatly  lessened  value  of  the  mining-ground  is 
shown  by  the  size  of  the  claim  being  increased  from 
ten  feet  square  to  one  hundred  feet  square.  Require- 
ment of  claim-notice  renewals  during  the  idle  season 
was  common  in  most  of  the  camps,  unless  a  miner  lived 
upon  his  claim.  Thriving  though  the  camp  was  in 
1861,  still  crowded  with  miners  by  the  hundred,  it  was 
rapidly  exhausted;  and  in  1856,  according  to  the  Tuo- 


238  MINING-CAMPS. 

lumne   Directory  of   that  year,  had   only  twenty-two 
voters. 

Springfield  District,  whose  leaders  were  men  of  New 
England,  trained  in  town-meetings  and  local  self-gov- 
ernment, was  able  to  create  an  organic  law  far  superior 
to  that  of  the  preceding  camp.  Its  laws  were  adopted 
in  written  form  at  a  mass-meeting  of  the  miners,  April 
13, 1852 ;  were  revised  Aug.  11,  and  again  Dec.  22, 1854. 
After  describing  the  boundaries  with  great  minuteness, 
the  preamble  (of  1852)  declares  — 

«  That  California,  is  and  shall  be,  governed  by  American  prin- 
ciples ;  and  as  Congress  has  made  no  rules  and  regulations  for  the 
government  of  the  mining-districts  of  the  same,  and  as  the  State 
legislature  of  California  has  provided  by  statute,  and  accorded  to 
the  miners  of  the  United  States,  the  right  of  making  all  laws,  rules, 
and  regulations  that  do  not  conflict  with  the  constitution  and  laws 
of  California,  in  all  actions  respecting  mining-claims;  therefore 
we,  the  miners  of  Springfield  District,  do  ordain  and  establish  the 
following  rules  and  regulations." 

There  are  sixteen  articles.  The  size  of  the  claim  is 
fixed  at  one  hundred  feet  square,  no  person  under  any 
circumstances  to  hold  more  than  one ;  work  must  be 
performed  upon  it  at  least  one  day  out  of  three  during 
the  season  for  mining.  Claims  must  have  substantial 
stakes  at  each  corner,  and  must  be  "  registered  and  de- 
scribed in  the  book  of  the  precinct  registry,"  to  which 
the  owner  or  owners  shall  sign  their  names.  Several 
persons,  each  owning  a  single  claim,  may  concentrate 
their  labor  upon  one  of  those  claims. 

Disputes  are  to  be  referred  to  a  standing  committee 
of  five  miners,  or  to  any  member  or  members  of  this 
committee,  as  arbitrators ;  or  a  miners'  jury  may  be 
summoned.  Each  member  of  the  standing  committee 
shall  in  each  case  be  paid  two  dollars  for  his  service. 


LOCAL   LAND   LAWS   AND   LEGISLATION.  239 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  a  single  arbitrator  was  in  many 
cases  entirely  satisfactory  for  both  disputants.  The 
laws  proceed  to  further  define  the  process  of  arbitra- 
tion. The  head  of  the  committee  is  to  be  sworn  by  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  provided  such  an  officer  be  ap- 
pointed in  this  mining-district,  and  is  to  administer  the 
oath  to  his  associates  and  to  the  witnesses.  In  some 
of  the  early  camps,  the  alcalde  administered  this  oath 
"  to  honestly  arbitrate,"  to  his  deputies.  The  decision 
arrived  at  in  either  jury-trial  or  arbitration  must  be 
received  as  conclusive  and  binding  upon  the  parties 
thereto,  and  be  deemed  and  considered  final  in  all  such 
cases.  Either  party  may  compel  the  other  to  come  to 
trial,  by  giving  three  days'  notice  of  time  and  place. 
Costs  shall  be  paid  in  the  same  way  as  in  magistrate's 
courts.  Disputes  over  water-privileges  are  especially 
named  for  arbitration. 

Thirty  days'  desertion  of  a  claim  during  the  working- 
season  results  in  forfeiture  without  remedy. 

Article  thirteen  reads  as  follows :  — 

"  No  person  not  an  American  citizen,  or  where  there  is  a  rea- 
sonable doubt  of  his  being  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  an  American 
citizen,  shall  be  competent  to  act  on  any  arbitration,  or  trial  by 
jury." 

The  next  article  provides  that  "  companies  which  go 
to  great  expense  running  tunnels"  are  allowed  "two 
claims  for  each  member  of  the  company."  The  first 
code  of  "  tunnel-claim  laws  "  adopted  in  this  region  was 
several  years  later,  —  Jan.  20,  1855;  and  it  defined  a 
legal  tunnel-claim  as  "  one  hundred  feet  along  the  base, 
and  running  from  base  to  base  through  the  mountain." 

Article  fifteen  provides  for  the  election  of  a  district 
recorder,  who  is  to  have  fifty  cents  for  recording  the 
title  of  each  mining-claim. 


240  MINING-CAMPS. 

The  last  article  provides  that  "all  claims  held  by 
foreigners  who  have  failed  to  secure  their  State  license  " 
shall  be  forfeited.  This  was  to  aid  in  the  enforcement 
of  the  State  Act  of  April  13,  1850,  passed  at  San  Jos^. 
A  list  of  the  unnaturalized  foreigners  was  to  be  kept 
in  each  county.  The  recorders  of  the  different  districts 
usually  aided  in  its  preparation. 

These  laws  of  Springfield  District  show  plainly  how 
much  dependence  was  placed  upon  the  arbitration  —  or, 
as  the  Spanish  termed  it,  the  conciliacion  —  plan.  We 
shall  find  equal  care  in  this  regard  in  many  other  dis- 
tricts. Springfield  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  dis- 
trict in  the  Sierra  Nevada  that  built  a  church  before  it 
built  a  gambling-house.  It  has  remained  an  orderly, 
flourishing,  and  energetic  community,  since  the  days 
of  its  first  organization. 

Jamestown  District,  settled  in  August,  1848,  by  South- 
ern and  Western  men,  was  regulated  by  miners'  meet- 
ings assembled  every  six  months,  and  sometimes  holding 
special  meetings  to  consider  particular  cases.  In  1853, 
several  persons  having  attempted  to  pass  unpopular 
laws,  the  miners  held  a  rousing  assembly,  repealed 
"all  previous  laws,  of  every  sort  whatever,"  enlarged 
the  boundaries  of  the  district,  adopted  the  usual  stand- 
ard size  for  claims,  —  one  hundred  feet  square,  —  and 
declared  that  all  claims  secured  under  former  laws  were 
publicly  acknowledged  as  legal. 

In  this  district,  within  three  days  from  the  time  of 
location,  a  claim  must  have  a  ditch  one  foot  wide  and 
one  foot  deep  cut  about  it :  notices  must  also  be  posted, 
and  stakes  driven  at  the  corners.  Failure  to  work  a 
claim  within  six  days  after  the  mining-season  begins, 
causes  its  forfeiture.  A  miner  can  hold  other  claims 
only  upon  proof  of  purchase.     Miners  shall  have  the 


LOCAL   LAND   LAWS   AND   LEGISLATION.  241 

use  of  water  from  the  ditches  accordiDg  to  the  date  and 
situation  of  the  location  of  their  claims. 

An  important  clause  is  to  the  effect  that  miners  may 
dig  up  any  farm,  or  enter  within  any  enclosure,  by  giv- 
ing the  owner  security  that  they  will  pay  all  damages 
inflicted.  In  no  case,  however,  shall  they  dig  within 
twelve  feet  of  a  building,  or  obstruct  the  entrance. 
Payment  of  damages  meant  only  compensation  for  grow- 
ing crops  and  improvements. 

Shaw's  Flat  District  required  the  claim  to  be  "  in  one 
lot,  and  square  in  form."  A  notice  would  hold  a  claim 
for  ten  days  after  the  season  began.  Part  of  a  com- 
pany could  not  "hold  the  claims  of  a  whole  company 
during  the  absence  of  a  part  of  its  members."  Claims 
in  "deep-diggings,"  where  pay-dirt  is  twenty-five  feet 
or  more  below  the  surface,  may  be  laid  over  without 
work  from  Dec.  1  to  May  1,  if  they  are  well  defined 
by  marks  and  notices,  and  recorded  in  the  district  re- 
gister, which  shall  always  be  open  to  inspection.  For 
some  years  there  was  an  annual  meeting  to  revise  the 
district  law,  besides  several  meetings  called  by  the  chair- 
man when  it  seemed  desirable. 

The  laws  of  Sawmill  Flat,  Brown's  Flat,  Mormon 
Gulch,  and  Tuttletown  districts  present  many  points 
of  resemblance.     Two  of  them  begin  by  saying,  — 

"  Whereas,  This  district  is  deficient  in  mining  laws  and  regula- 
tions, and  disputes  have  arisen  :  therefore  we,-  the  miners  of  

district,  in  convention  assembled,  do  pledge  ourselves  to  abide  by 
the  following  laws." 

In  three  of  the  districts  named,  the  laws  provide  that 
the  discoverer  of  new  diggings  shall  be  allowed  to  hold 
twice  the  usual  amount  of  mining-ground. 

The  laws  of  Sawmill  Flat  provided  for  a  committee 
of  three  persons,  elected  by  the  miners,  to  call  meetings 


242  MINENG-CAMPS. 

of  all  the  miners  of  the  precinct,  either  to  enforce  the 
laws,  or  whenever,  for  any  reason,  they  deem  such  meet- 
ing necessary.  The  arrangement  for  arbitration  is  as 
follows ;  — 

"  Whenever  any  dispute  shall  arise  respecting  claims  or  water- 
privileges,  each  party  shall  choose  two  disinterested  persons ;  the 
four  thus  selected  shall  choose  a  fifth ;  and  the  five  thus  selected 
shall  hear  evidence  according  to  the  laws  of  this  precinct." 

The  law  of  Brown's  Flat  provided  that  "  all  arbitra- 
tors shall  be  appointed  by  the  committee"  of  three 
which  then  governed  the  camp.  They  were  to  be  five 
in  number;  and  were  to  "examine  all  disputed  terri- 
tory, hear  testimony,  and  decide  accordingly."  This 
governing  committee  of  Brown's  Flat  was  elected  "  to 
hold  office  until  superseded."  It  was  the  court  of  ap- 
peals in  cases  where  the  arbitrators  failed  to  satisfy  the 
parties.  Its  members  were  paid  "  wages  for  summoning 
the  arbitrators,  and  for  other  duties ; "  but  the  amount 
is  not  named. 

The  Tuttletown  laws  say,  "  No  person  shall  hold  more 
than  two  claims,  either  by  purchase  or  otherwise."  They 
also  provide  that  any  one  who  destroys  a  notice  or  claim- 
stake  shall  be  fined  not  less  than  five  dollars  nor  more 
than  fifty  dollars.  Notices  of  discontinuance  of  work 
on  deep  claims  during  winter  are  to  be  posted  in 
some  convenient  and  public  place  in  the  district. 
Tuttletown  was  so  named  because  Mr.  Tuttle,  after- 
wards first  county  judge  of  Tuolumne,  built  and  occu- 
pied the  first  cabin  there.  The  miners  of  the  district 
organized  a  water-ditch  company  in  June,  1851,  and 
carried  their  enterprise  to  a  successful  termination. 
Mormon's  Gulch  and  Brown's  Flat  were  first  mined  in 
1848.  Sawmill  Flat  became  a  great  resort  of  Mexicans, 
Chilenos,  and  Peruvians,  in  1850-51.     Joaquin  Muri- 


LOCAL  LAND   LAWS   AND   LEGISLATION.  243 

etta,  the  notorious  outlaw,  was  a  monte-dealer  there  in 
1852. 

Yorktown,  Poverty  Hill,  and  Chili  camps  had  similar 
laws ;  and  these  pioneer  camps  were  organized  early 
in  1849.  The  first  and  last  were  settled  by  Mexicans 
and  Chilenos,  but  Americans  soon  ruled  all  three.  At 
Yorktown,  within  a  month  after  its  discovery,  the  Amer- 
icans and  other  miners  met,  "  and  elected  P.  Cutrell  for 
alcalde,  and  Mr.  Rochette  (better  known  as  '  Frenchy ') 
for  sheriff,"  under  whose  administration  the  district  was 
governed  well  and  quietly.  The  alcalde  system  was  re- 
tained in  its  main  features  until  superseded  by  county 
organization.  In  these  districts,  the  miners  assembled 
to  pass  legislative  enactments;  but  they  only  referred 
to  size  of  claims,  and  possession  thereof,  not  in  any  case 
to  "  arbitration,"  because  that  was  one  of  the  alcalde's 
most  important  duties.  The  camp-laws  limited  "  deep- 
diggings  "  to  claims  "  of  thirty  feet  square  on  unworked 
ground,  and  to  fifty  feet  square  on  previously  worked 
ground."  A  claim  of  sixty  feet  square  was  set  apart 
for  the  discoverer  of  a  placer.  A  claim  must  be  worked 
within  three  days  after  staking  it  out,  and  placing  a 
claim-notice  upon  it.  Ten  days'  absence  in  the  work- 
ing season  subjects  it  to  forfeiture,  and  throws  it  open 
to  re-location  as  an  abandoned  claim. 

Chinese  Camp  also  had  an  alcalde  system  ;  and  its 
laws,  passed  at  a  miners'  meeting  Sept.  17,  1850,  were 
in  operation  for  many  years,  without  change.  The 
alcalde  elected  at  this  meeting  had  "power  to  decide 
upon  all  disputed  claims  ;  "  his  fees  were  fixed  at  three 
dollars  for  his  decision,  and  a  dollar  a  mile  for  travel- 
ing expenses  froiti  the  central  point  of  the  camp  to  the 
disputed  claims,  and  return.  The  legislative  enact- 
ments of  the  district  confirmed  all  claims  "  as  made  by 


244  MINING-CAMPS. 

the  present  settlers ; "  confined  all  future  claims  to 
"  twenty  feet  square ; "  and  required  a  ditch  two  feet 
wide  and  one  foot  deep  to  be  dug  about  each  claim, 
"  unless  prevented  by  rock  or  clay,"  in  which  case  the 
removal  of  the  surface-soil  and  the  erection  of  corner- 
stones was  considered  sufficient.  In  this  district,  Isaac 
Caps  was  the  first  alcalde,  and  S.  E.  Chamberlain  the 
first  sheriff. 

The  laws  of  Gold  Spring  Camp  presented  some 
features  differing  materially  from  those  of  other  dis- 
tricts in  the  region.  Claims  must  be  worked  one  day 
in  every  seven.  Arbitrators  were  "  earnestly  recom- 
mended," but  not  made  essential.  Miners  were  com- 
pelled to  make  a  new  road  if  they  destroyed  the  old 
one  in  their  operations.  This  is  often  a  bone  of  much 
contention  in  mining-districts.  Gold  Spring  Camp  had 
a  population  of  about  eight  hundred,  and  was  ruled  in 
1850  by  an  alcalde;  in  1854  the  population  was  five 
hundred.  Tiie  gold  of  this  district  minted  more  than 
that  of  any  other  of  the  early  diggings.^ 

Columbia  District  was  always  a  large  and  important 
one,  including  several  lesser  camps,  such  as  Yankee 
Hill,  where  many  fine  nuggets,  one  weighing  tw.enty- 
three  pounds,  were  found  in  the  early  days.  The  his- 
tory of  this  camp  was  highly  characteristic  of  the 
mining-era.  March  27,  1850,  five  prospectors  —  all 
New-Englanders,  and  three,  at  least,  from  the  woods  of 
Maine  —  camped  beside  a  gulch,  and  tested  the  gravel. 
To  their  delight  it  was  found  that  they  could  make 
eight  or  ten  ounces  a  day  to  the  man,  though  water  was 


1  Gold-dust,  which  at  first  passed  at  uniform  rates  in  the  mines,  and 
in  San  Francisco,  at  one  time  falling  to  seven  dollars  per  ounce,  was 
carefully  tested  by  the  express  companies ;  and  they  found  that  it  ranged 
in  value  in  different  localities,  from  $14.50  to  $;19.50  per  ounce. 


LOCAL  LAND  LAWS   AND  LEGISLATION.  245 

very  scarce.  They  named  the  place  Kennebec  Hill, 
and  proceeded  to  wash  gravel  with  their  utmost  energy, 
knowing  that  others  would  soon  find  the  gulch.  Within 
a  week,  another  prospector  joined  them,  and  succeeded 
in  taking  out  two  pounds  and  a  half  of  gold-dust 
during  his  first  day's  work.  Within  thirteen  days  from 
the  time  the  five  original  prospectors  camped  on  Ken- 
nebec Hill,  there  were  eight  thousand  miners  in  the 
new  town.  Many  gamblers  came  with  the  crowd ;  and 
at  one  time  there  were  not  less  than  a  hundred  and 
forty-three  monte  and  faro  banks  in  operation,  the  funds 
of  which  were  nearly  half  a  million  dollars.  Men  were 
often  seen  to  turn  a  card  for  three  or  four  thousand 
dollars,  sometimes  for  several  times  as  much.  It  was 
one  of  the  most  rapid  developments  of  a  great  and 
prosperous  mining-camp  ever  known  in  California. 

Within  a  fortnight,  the  need  for  some  system  of  gov- 
ernment was  manifest.  A  public  meeting  was  called  to 
talk  up  the  subject ;  but  nothing  in  particular  was  done 
except  to  give  the  camp  a  name,  —  Columbia.  Two  or 
three  days  later,  at  another  and  much  better  attended 
mass-meeting,  Major  Sullivan  was  chosen  alcalde,  and 
allowed  fees  collected  from  registry  of  mining-claims. 
June  1  the  new  State  tax  on  foreigners  was  enforced, 
and  the  population  decreased  greatly.  In  1852,  1,229 
votes  were  polled  in  the  district. 

The  points  in  the  mining-law  in  Columbia,  which 
differed  from  those  previously  noted,  were  as  follows : 
Full  regulations  respecting  "dry-diggings,"  and  gold- 
bearing  earth  thrown  up  in  heaps  to  remain  till  winter 
rains,  such  heaps  being  held  to  be  private  property ; 
full  regulations  to  prevent  persons  from  diverting  water 
flowing  naturally  through  gold-bearing  ravines,  from  its 
course,  without  the  consent  of  all  parties  interested ;  the 


246  MTNING-CAMPS. 

presence  on  a  claim  of  tools,  sluice-boxes  in  condition 
for  use,  or  other  mining-machines,  accepted  as  prima- 
facie  evidence  of  occupation. 

There  are  no  regulations  for  arbitration,  that  being 
one  of  the  alcalde  duties  in  this  camp.  The  alcalde 
appointed  jurors  in  civil  cases  when  asked  for.  The 
other  officers  were  sheriff  and  recorder ;  and  the  sheriff 
chose  his  own  assistant,  or  selected  a  posse  whenever 
thought  necessary.  Recorder-fees  were  at  first  a  dollar, 
but  afterwards  fifty  cents. 

But  far  the  most  important  sections  of  the  Columbia- 
District  law  were  as  follows :  "Neither  Asiatics  nor  South- 
Sea  Islanders  shall  be  allowed  to  mine  in  this  district, 
either  for  themselves  or  for  others."  "  Any  person  who 
shall  sell  a  claim  to  an  Asiatic  or  South-Sea  Islander 
shall  not  be  allowed  to  hold  another  claim  in  this  dis- 
trict for  the  space  of  six  months."  "  None  but  Ameri- 
cans, or  Europeans  who  intend  to  become  citizens,  shall 
be  allowed  to  mine  in  this  district,  either  for  themselves 
or  others."  These  laws  were  in  full  operation  in  1856, 
when  Columbia  had  more  than  five  thousand  inhabit- 
ants.i 

Montezuma  Camp,  Tuolumne,  allowed  "  three  squares, 
of  a  hundred  feet  each,"  to  constitute  a  surface  claim ; 
a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  width  was  a  "  tunnelling- 
claim ; "  a  hundred  feet  wide  by  three  hundred  feet  long 
was  a  deep-sinking  claim.  All  shaft-claims  must  be  re- 
corded within  one  week  after  location,  and  must  receive 
three  full   days'  labor  each  week.     The  recorder  was 

1  In  1854  the  town  was  incorporated.  In  1855  the  miners  were  anx- 
ious to  aid  the  progress  of  a  water-company's  ditch;  and  three  hundred 
or  more  of  them  took  their  picks,  and  gave  several  weeks'  work  to  the 
enterprise.  This  company,  in  ten  months,  constructed  forty-four  miles 
of  canal  and  fluming,  and  supplied  twenty-five  square  miles  of  mining- 
ground. 


LOCAL   LAND   LAWS   AND  LEGISLATION.  247 

elected  "for  one  year,  and  until  his  successor  is  chosen, 
unless  dissatisfaction  occurs : "  then  the  miners  of  the 
district  "may  call  a  special  meeting,  and  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  declare  said  office  vacant,  and  proceed  to  elect  his 
successor."  Arrangements  are  made  for  an  annual  meet- 
ing, called  by  the  recorder.  His  fees  are  a  dollar  for 
recording  each  claim,  and  a  dollar  for  each  arbitration. 
He  presides  over  the  arbitration  court,  which  consists 
of  two  miners  chosen  by  each  of  the  disputants.  If 
either  party  refuses  to  choose  arbitrators,  the  two  others 
and  the  recorder  shall  decide ;  and  their  decision  is  final. 

Jacksonville  Camp  allowed  for  a  claim  fifty  feet  in 
width  on  the  river,  and  extending  from  the  centre  of 
the  stream  to  the  adjacent  mountain ;  in  the  small  ra- 
vines, three  hundred  feet  constituted  a  claim,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  on  the  flat,  and  sixty  feet  in  certain 
deep-diggings.  Fifteen  days'  idleness  in  the  working- 
season  destroyed  claim-rights.  In  Garote  District,  fifty 
yards  up  and  down  the  creek  were  allowed,  and  seventy- 
five  yards  on  neighboring  gulches. 

In  18f6  the  mining-laws  of  French  Camp,  Stanislaus 
County,  —  then  called  La  Grange,  —  contained  the  fol- 
lowing, after  providing  for  arbitrators :  "  In  the  event 
of  any  of  the  disputing  parties  not  acknowledging  the 
decision,  then  the  miners  of  this  district  will  assem- 
ble, and  compel  said  party  ,to  recognize  the  umpire's 
decision." 

The  Sweetland  mining-district,  Nevada  County,  was 
organized  in  1850,  claims  then  being  thirty  feet  square. 
Two  years  later  the  privilege  was  increased,  and  claims 
of  eighty  by  a  hundred  and  eighty  feet  allowed.  In 
1853  the  miners  met,  and  subdivided  the  district  into 
three ;  and  different  regulations  were  adopted  in  each. 
North  San  Juan,  one  of  these  districts,  and  long  the 


248  MINING-CAMPS. 

great  hydraulic-mining  centre  of  California,  provided, 
in  its  earlier  code,  for  "  one  claim  by  location,  and  an 
unlimited  number  by  purchase.  The  claim-notice  must 
be  renewed  every  thirty  days,  unless  obviated  by  the 
daily  presence  of  the  owners  or  their  representatives." 
An  expenditure  of  five  hundred  dollars  in  prospecting 
or  opening  up  a  claim  secures  it  for  two  years.  A  re- 
corder was  to  be  elected  annually  by  the  miners,  with 
the  usual  fees ;  and  each  sale  or  transfer  was  to  be  placed 
on  record  within  a  week. 

Pilot  Hill,  Calaveras  County,  passed  laws  .about  1855, 
to  the  effect  that  each  "  gulch-claim  "  should  be  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  long,  and  fifty  feet  wide ;  each  "  sur- 
face-claim," two  hundred  feet  by  a  hundred  feet;  and 
each  "  tunnel  or  shaft  claim  "  should  be  a  hundred  feet 
in  width,  and  extending  through  the  hill.  On  the  last 
class  of  claim,  work  to  the  value  of  twenty-five  dollars 
per  week  is  required  from  each  company.  "Occupa- 
tion and  use  "  is  required  of  the  owners  of  the  other 
species  of  claims. 

New  Kanaka  Camp,  Tuolumne  County,  allowed,  in 
1858,  "creek-claims"  of  two  hundred  feet  in  width,  and 
from  bank  to  bank ;  also  "  gulch-claims,"  of  one-fourth 
that  size ;  and  "  bar  or  flat "  claims,  of  twenty  feet  in 
width  and  fifty  feet  in  length.  Work  must  be  done 
"  one  full  day  in  three,  unless  the  owner  is  sick  or  on  a 
jury."  On  this  point,  the  law  of  a  little  Trinity-county 
camp  in  1854  said  with  grim  humor,  "and  a  physician's 
certificate  is  needed ; "  there  being  at  that  time  but  one 
or  two  medical  men  in  the  county,  and  none  at  all  in 
that  particular  camp.  New  Kanaka  furthermore  or- 
dained that  each  miner  might  hold  one  claim  by  pre- 
emption, and  one  by  purchase,  but  no  more.  The 
Chinaman  was  shut  out ;  "  not  allowed  to  own,  either 


LOCAL  LAND   LAWS   AND   LEGISLATION.  249 

by  purchase  or  pre-emption."  All  disputes  were  left  to 
three  arbitrators,  who  "  must  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  three 
dollars  per  day  for  their  time."  One  curious  item  was, 
that  the  elected  recorder  should  number  each  claim 
registered,  and  himself  attach  to  a  claim-stake,  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses,  a  piece  of  tin  bearing  that  num- 
ber. The  laws  of  Copper-Canon  District,  Calaveras 
County,  were  similarly  exact  on  this  point;  requiring 
the  recorder  to  visit  each  claim,  and  examine  its  bounds. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  of  definite 
regulation  of  the  "legal  representation"  of  miners  at 
all  meetings  was  that  afforded  by  Brown's  Valley  Camp, 
Yuba  County.  The  miners  of  this  place  appear  to  have 
been  sufficiently  energetic ;  for  we  find  them,  early  in 
1853,  assembling,  and  repealing  a  "previous  arbitrary 
and  oppressive  set  of  laws  to-day  revoked  by  common 
consent."     They  met  again  Aug.  8,  and  resolved,  — 

"  That  each  claim  shall  be  entitled  to  a  vote  in  the  miners'  meet- 
ings of  this  district  by  the  proper  owner,  or  may  be  represented  by 
a  power-of-attorney  from  the  proper  owner,  specifying  the  object 
of  that  power,  and  its  limitation." 

These  meetings  were  semi-annual,  and  claims  not  repre- 
sented were  declared  to  be  forfeited.  This  code  was  in 
full  force  until  1864,  and  many  of  its  provisions  lasted 
until  a  few  years  ago. 

Examples  of  kindred  regulations  might  easily  be 
quoted  from  the  laws  of  placer-camps  in  California. 
We  have  before  us  notes  from  pioneers  upon  the  codes 
of  Cherokee,  Nimshew,  Bangor,  and  Forbestown  camps, 
in  Butte  County;  of  La  Porte,  Hungarian  Hill,  and 
Grizzly  Creek,  in  Plumas  County ;  of  Port  Wine,  Forest 
City,  Monte  Cristo,  and  Downieville,  in  Sierra  ;  of  Slab- 
town,  Tiddletown,  and  Volcano,  in  Amador ;  of  Mount 
Ophir,  Blue  Gulch,  Penon  Blanco,  and  Horseshoe  Bend, 


250  MINING-CAMPS. 

in  Mariposa;  and  of  many  other  camps  once  famous, 
but  now  lost  in  oblivion.  None  of  them  present  im- 
portant variations  from  those  already  described.  The 
laws  of  Mud  Springs,  El  Dorado  County,  as  late  as  1863 
provided  for  the  use  of  arbitrators;  and  Georgetown 
Camp  in  1866  clung  to  many  of  the  primitive  forms. 
In  1868  each  district  in  Placer  County  had  its  own 
rules,  and  little  uniformity  was  manifest. 

A  claim-notice  posted  in  San  Andreas  District,  Cala- 
veras County,  in  1862,  was  as  follows :  — 

Notice.  —  The  Undersigned  claims  this  ground  for  mining-pur- 
poses, known  as  the  Robert  McCall  Claim,  being  a  deep  or  shaft 
claim,  and  bounded  on  the  northwest  by  the  Gilchrist  &  Cornwell 
Claim,  &  on  the  southeast  by  the  Plug-Ugly  Claim,  and  he  in- 
tends to  work  it  according  to  the  laws  of  the  San  Andreas  Mining 
District. 

(Signed)  William  Irvine. 

John  Skowalteb,  Recorder,  Aug.  18. 

Another  notice  found  by  the  writer  over  a  deserted 
claim  in  Shasta  County,  a  few  years  ago,  was  of  a  much 
more  primitive  type,  and  read  after  this  fashion :  — 

NoTis:  To  all  and  everybody.  This  is  my  claim,  fifty  feet 
on  the  gulch,  cordm'  to  Clear  Creek  District  Law,  backed  up  by 
shotgun  amendments. 

(Signed)  Thomas  Hall. 

A  few  quotations  from  other  "claim-notices"  that 
were  in  their  time  accepted  as  "  good  and  sufficient " 
may  perhaps  be  pardoned.  One  man  wrote :  "  Taken. 
—  This  is  my  Honest  Claim  of  Ten  feet  each  way." 
Another :  "  To  Miners.  —  Look  further.  Respect  my 
claim  stakes  driven  by  the  rules  of  Douglas  Bar."  Still 
another  grew  combative  with  his  "  Clame  Notise.  — 
Jim  Brown  of  Missoury  takes  this  ground  ;  jumpers  will 
be  shot."     Some  camps  prescribed  the  proper  size  for 


LOCAL  LAND   LAWS   AND   LEGISLATION.  251 

the  "  notice,"  and  that  it  "  should  be  written  in  ink," 
others  required  it  to  be  "painted  or  cut  on  wood;"  and 
it  was  often  boxed,  or  otherwise  protected  from  the 
weather.  One  camp  described  the  legal  claim-stake  as 
four  feet  high  and  five  inches  square.  There  was  evi- 
dently a  great  deal  of  honest  attention  paid  to  details 
of  this  sort. 

All  the  laws  we  have  hitherto  described  are  those  of 
placer-districts  where  mines  were  worked  at  compara- 
tively little  cost,  except  when  tunnelling  was  required. 
But  the  first  quartz-mining  began  in  1850-51,  near 
Oroville ;  and  the  necessity  of  having  laws  by  which  to 
regulate  the  size  of  quartz-claims,  and  their  tenure,  was 
at  once  manifest.  The  miners  soon  took  steps  to  enlarge 
their  code,  and  extend  it  to  county  jurisdiction.  Late 
in  1852  the  miners  of  the  various  districts  of  Nevada 
County  held  a  meeting  at  which  there  was  a  full  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject,  and  a  free  interchange  of  opinion. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  report  at  another  meeting, 
called  for  Dec.  20,  at  which  time  a  convention  of  the 
quartz-miners  from  all  the  districts  of  the  county  was 
held  at  Nevada  City.  The  laws  they  adopted  at  this 
meeting  were  still  in  force  in  1881,  and  have  served  as 
the  regulations  of  all  the  quartz-mining  of  that  region. 
They  carry  the  force  of  law,  and  have  sustained  various 
judicial  decisions.  The  jurisdiction  of  these  laws  was 
declared  to  be  "over  all  quartz  mines  and  claims  in 
Nevada  County."  The  extent  allowed  to  a  claim  was 
"  one  hundred  feet  on  the  ledge,"  including  "  all  dips, 
angles,  and  variations,"  or,  as  later  laws  read,  "  all  dips, 
spurs,  and  angles."  The  discoverer  was  entitled  to  two 
hundred  feet.  The  marking  and  staking  of  a  claim 
must  be  done  within  three  days,  and  the  recording 
within  ten  days ;  and  within  thirty  days,  work  to  the 


252  MINING}-CAMPS. 

cost  of  one  hundred  dollars,  or  twenty  full  days'  labor, 
must  be  done,  and  the  same  repeated  each  year  to  hold 
the  claim,  until  a  company  is  fully  organized,  and  has 
a  mill  worth  five  thousand  dollars  "  contracted  for  in 
good  faith."  The  recorder  may  then  give  the  company 
a  title-deed  to  the  mining-property,  guaranteeing  posses- 
sion and  proprietorship  forever.  Failure  to  comply  with 
this  provision  about  the  quartz-mill,  ultimately  works 
forfeiture.  Any  citizen  of  the  United  States  can  take 
up  one  quartz-claim,  and  may  also  hold  "  all  that  he 
purchases  in  good  faith."  The  regular  county  recorder 
of  Nevada  County  was  to  serve  as  mining-recorder  in 
the  matter  of  quartz-claims.  His  deputy  was  to  be 
elected  by  the  district. 

The  Sacramento-County  miners  assembled  in  1857, 
and  passed  laws  that  were  in  force  until  after  1868. 
They  required  twenty  days  of  work  per  year  on  each 
quartz-claim;  the  work  when  done  "to  be  examined  by 
the  recorder  of  the  local  district,"  and  a  certificate 
given.  Whenever  a  quartz-mill  worth  five  thousand 
dollars  has  been  contracted  for  in  good  faith,  the  com- 
pany is  entitled  to  receive  a  permanent  title-deed  to 
the  lands  from  the  county  recorder.  Only  citizens,  or 
"  those  who  have  declared  their  intentions  of  becoming 
so,"  are  entitled  to  hold  claims.  About  1855  the 
miners  of  Sierra  County  formed  a  code,  requiring 
work  to  the  value  of  a  hundred  dollars  per  year,  allow- 
ing "  foreigners  who  pay  their  miners'  tax "  to  hold 
claims,  and  limiting  the  size  to  two  hundred  feet  on  the 
lode,  by  a  total  width  of  five  hundred  feet.  In  1858 
the  miners  of  Tuolumne  County  assembled,  and  made 
uniform  laws  for  the  quartz  interests. 

At  the  present  time  most  of  the  counties  in  the  State 
have  held  "  miners'  meetings,"  at  one  time  or  another, 


LOCAL  LAND  LAWS   AND  LEGISLATION.  253 

to  regulate  the  interests  of  the  owners  of  quartz-lodes. 
There  was  a  plan  suggested,  some  time  before  1860,  for 
a  State  convention  of  delegates  from  all  the  mining- 
districts  of  California,  to  formulate  a  general  mining- 
code  ;  but  the  need  was  not  sufficiently  felt  at  that  time, 
and  Congressional  action  a  few  years  later  rendered 
such  a  convention  useless.  No  student  of  the  life  of 
the  camps,  however,  can  deny  that  the  full  possibility 
of  a  State-wide  organization  existed. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  how  exact  and  definite 
were  the  California  camp-laws  which  regulated  property 
rights.  They  dealt  in  a  practical  manner  with  river 
and  placer  mine-rights,  with  cement  and  deep-gravel 
rights,  with  tunnel  and  water-ditch  rights,  and  with 
leads,  ledges,  and  lodes  of  every  description.  These 
laws  thus  created  became  the  common  heritage  of  the 
entire  body  of  American  miners,  and  were  in  a  few 
years  adopted  by  camps  in  far-distant  regions. 

In  the  Territory  (now  the  State)  of  Nevada,  Virginia-; 
city  District  adopted  its  first  code  Sept.  14,  1859. 
Quartz-claims  were  to  be  two  hundred  feet  on  the  lead, 
including  "dips,  spurs,  and  angles."  Three  days  of 
work  were  required  each  month.  Each  quartz-claim 
was  to  receive  a  name,  and  to  be  recorded  within  ten 
days.  "  Hill  and  surface  "  claims  might  be  a  hundred 
feet  square.  "  Ravine  and  gulch  "  claims  were  to  be  a 
hundred  feet  wide,  and  extend  "  from  bank  to  bank." 
Claims  of  every  sort  were  forfeited  if  not  worked.  The 
recorder,  elected  for  one  year,  should  hold  his  book 
"  subject  to  inspection,"  and  should  post  copies  of  the 
district-laws  in  two  conspicuous  places  within  the 
camp.  Reese-river  District  in  1864  extended  twenty 
miles  north  and  south.  Its  laws  were  numerous  and 
definite.     A  written  notice  signed  by  fifty  claim-owners 


254  MINING-CAMPS. 

could  at  any  time  be  called  to  depose  the  recorder. 
That  officer's  fees  were  one  dollar ;  and  he  could  appoint 
deputies,  since  the  district  was  so  large.  The  written 
application  of  twenty  miners  would  at  any  time  call  a 
special  district-meeting. 

The  regulations  of  the  famous  Alder  Gulch  in  Mon- 
tana, the  richest  for  its  size  that  has  ever  been  found, 
were  adopted  in  miners'  meeting,  Sept.  16, 1864,  and  con- 
sisted of  two  articles  in  thirty-one  sections.  They  were 
draughted  by  a  select  committee  chosen  by  the  miners 
in  open  "folk-moot;"  and  were  approved  in  like  man- 
ner, clause  by  clause,  after  free  discussion.  The  officers 
of  the  district  were  president  and  secretary.  We  have 
now  passed  beyond  the  utmost  limits  of  the  alcalde  and 
the  "  government  by  committee  "  systems.  A  written 
application  of  five  claim-owners  was  sufficient  to  call 
a  special  meeting.  Much  space  is  devoted  to  riparian 
rights,  laws  of  trespass,  and  flume  ownership.  Tailings 
•must  not  be  permitted  to  accumulate  on  another  miner's 
land.  Bar-claims,  creek-claims,  hill-claims,  and  other 
classifications  are  mentioned.  Three  days  per  week  is 
the  work-requirement.  All  in  all,  it  is  a  highly  organ- 
ized and  definite  code,  and  shows  the  influence  of 
experienced  miners  from  Idaho,  Colorado,  and  Cali- 
fornia. The  growth  of  Montana  was  marvellous.  Be- 
fore 1867  twenty-five  hundred  mineral-lodes  were 
prospected  and  recorded  in  the  Territory.  In  Confed- 
erate Gulch,  in  1866,  three  miners  are  said  to  have 
taken  out  four  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand  dollars 
from  a  claim  three  rods  square.  Montana  miners  in 
1865-70  founded  dozens  of  new  camps,  even  as  far 
north  as  the  Saskatchawan. 

We  must  turn  to  the  later  manifestations  of  law  in 
single  mountain  camps,  organized  by  Americans.     In 


LOCAL  LAND   LAWS   AND   LEGISLATION.  255 

the  autumn  of  1883,  away  up  in  the  northern  corner  of 
Idaho,  the  Coeur  d'Alene  placers  were  discovered,  south 
of  Lake  Pend  d'Oreille,  in  fastnesses  of  the  North 
Rockies  that  romance  and  tragedy  have  made  their 
own.  The  mining  excitement  that  followed  was  enough 
to  revive  the  most  vivid  memories  of  1849.  From  New- 
Mexico,  Arizona,  Colorado,  California,  hardy  prospect- 
ors by  the  hundred  started  for  Spokane  and  Rathrum, 
the  gateways  of  the  region.  They  surged  in  from 
Minnesota,  from  Puget  Sound,  from  Winnipeg  and  the 
Assiniboine,  from  British  Columbia,  and  the  wheat- 
plains  of  Dakota.  Mining-papers  devoted  columns  to 
the  new  mineral  belt.  Some  doubted,  some  warned, 
some  condemned ;  but  still  the  gold-rush  continued. 

On  Pritchard  and  Eagle  Creeks,  Shoshone  County, 
Idaho,  the  first  local  laws  of  the  new  mines  were 
adopted.  It  was  early  in  March,  1884,  in  Coeur  d'AlSne 
mining-district ;  and  the  "  by-laws,"  as  the  code  is 
termed,  show  clearly  how  the  ideas  of  the  earliest  camp- 
laws  have  since  been  modified. 

The  greatest  of  changes  is  in  regard  to  size.  All 
locations  on  lodes  of  quartz,  conforming  with  the 
United-States  mining-laws  of  1872,  are  to  be  fifteen 
hundred  feet  in  length  by  six  hundred  feet  in  width. 
Placer-mine  claimants  are  allowed  twenty  acres,  so  lo- 
cated that  neither  length  nor  breadth  shall  exceed  eighty 
rods. 

Section  three  of  the  thirteen  sections  of  this  code 
introduces  a  new  factor.  It  provides  that  authorized 
agents  for  capitalists  may  locate  and  record  claims  for 
them.  Such  a  thing  was  seldom  or  never  heard  of  in 
old  California  days;  but,  as  all  the  world  knows,  the 
professional  prospector  and  locator  for  others  is  one  of 
the  most  prominent  figures  in  Western  camps.     "  Give 


256  MINING-CAMPS. 

me  a  grub-slake,  an'  I'll  locate  ye  a  dozen  good  mines," 
is  the  appeal  made  to  each  "  tenderfoot,"  as  a  greenhorn 
is  affectionately  termed. 

Section  four  allows  persons  to  locate  one  claim  on 
each  gulch  where  mineral  is  found,  and  also  to  hold 
other  claims  by  purchase.  This  also  marks  the  growth 
of  the  interests  of  capital,  and  large  moneyed  enter- 
prises. 

Section  five  regards  assessments  and  claim-work. 
The  first  year  after  location,  one  hundred  dollars  of 
work  must  be  done  ;  and  twenty  dollars  each  month  be- 
tween June  and  November  of  subsequent  years.  Neces- 
sary work,  such  as  making  roads  or  trails,  building 
cabins  or  other  improvements,  is  allowed  to  count  on 
the  assessment  at  the  rate  of  five  dollars  per  day.  Be- 
tween November  and  May,  —  the  winter-season  in  that 
trying  climate,  —  all  claims  are  "  laid  over ; "  that  is,  no 
work  is  needed  to  retain  their  ownership. 

The  section  relating  to  claims  being  recorded  allows 
fifteen  days  from  the  date  of  location,  evidently  because 
the  district  is  so  large,  and  the  mountain  trails  so  steep 
and  difficult  to  travel  over,  that  a  shorter  time  would 
inconvenience  prospectors  who  wish  to  make  long  tours 
before  returning  to  camp. 

Riparian  rights,  as  always,  receive  careful  attention. 
The  oldest  locations  have  first  privilege  of  water ;  but 
cannot  control  the  surplus,  nor  waste  the  water,  which 
is  in  every  case  to  be  returned  to  the  channel  of  the 
stream  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  those  below. 

The  regulation  regarding  company  organization  per- 
mits miners  to  unite  their  claims  for  purposes  of  work- 
ing them  better,  and  to  perform  "all  their  assessments 
on  one  claim."  This  is  extremely  similar  to  the  usage 
in  the  early  California  mines. 


LOCAL  LAND   LAWS   AND   LEGISLATION.  257 

The  principle  of  arbitration  is  still  preserved  in  almost 
its  pristine  exactitude.  All  difficulties  are  to  be  settled 
thus :  "  Each  disputant  to  be  allowed  an  equal  number 
of  arbitrators  ;  and,  in  case  of  a  tie  on  the  decision,  said 
arbitrators  shall  have  power  to  call  in  an  assistant." 

Claims  located  prior  to  the  adoption  of  these  laws 
are  indorsed.  Changes  in  the  district-laws  require  the 
written  application  of  at  least  twelve  miners,  and  ten 
days'  notice  of  a  meeting  posted  in  three  or  more  con- 
spicuous places  in  the  district.  Changes  between  the 
1st  of  November  and  the  1st  of  June  are  illegal  and 
void.  Previous  unwritten  laws  are  repealed.  The  offi- 
cers are  a  claim-recorder,  and  a  chairman,  who  has  power 
to  call  miners'  meetings. 

Now,  these  rules  made  for  the  government  of  the 
Idaho  camp  of  1884  have  many  resemblances  to  the  laws 
of  the  California  camps  of  1848.  The  thirty-six  years 
between  have  only  caused  those  inevitable  changes  that 
come  from  the  increased  capital  invested  in  the  busi- 
ness, and  from  the  more  definite  State  and  National 
legislation  upon  the  subject.  The  generic  relationship 
of  the  earlier  and  the  later  codes  is  manifest.  Ameri- 
can frontiersmen  are  ruling  in  Idaho,  as  once  they 
ruled  in  California. 

In  October,  1884,  a  New- York  gentleman  who  had 
been  present  at  a  miners'  meeting,  Eagle-creek  Camp, 
in  the  Coeur  d'Alene,  only  a  few  months  before,  told 
the  writer  that  the  impression  he  received  from  it  was 
that  it  was  the  true  descendant  of  the  New-England 
town-meeting,  and  illustrated  local  self-government  of 
the  highest  order.  Another  gentleman  recently  re- 
turned from  a  journey  to  the  head- waters  of  the  Peace 
River,  the  Frazer,  and  the  Saskatchawan,  about  the 
gigantic  precipices  of  Mount  Hooker,  says  that  the 


258  MINING-CAMPS. 

prospectors  there  were  forming  camps,  and  adopting 
their  local  codes  concerning  "  claims,"  their  primitive 
land-law.  The  process  is  going  on  at  this  hour  in  the 
narrowing  realm  of  the  pioneer,  to  the  north  and  to 
the  south,  along  the  ridge  of  the  continent;  and  the 
close  of  this  century  will  not  see  its  completion. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  EARLY  RELATIONSHIPS  OF  MINING  AND   AGRICUL- 
TURAL INTERESTS. 

The  student  of  mining-camps  and  their  local  customs 
and  enactments  soon  becomes  interested  in  a  class  of 
problems  peculiar  to  those  districts  of  the  West  that  are 
situated  upon  government-lands.  He  finds  that  class- 
difficulties  have  arisen  between  farmer  and  miner ;  and 
that  not  merely  camp-law,  but  the  decisions  of  the  State 
courts,  have  taken  abundant  cognizance  of  this  fact. 
These  interests,  naturally  helpers,  he  finds  at  times 
opposed  to  each  other ;  and  he  can  trace  the  sources  of 
many  recent  law-suits  to  early  local  legislation.^ 

Several  of  the  district-laws  quoted  in  the  preceding 
chapter  recognize  the  duty  of  "  restoring  roads  destroyed 
in  mining  operations,"  and  protect  a  few  feet  about 
a  building  so  that  it  shall  not  fall,  nor  slide  into  the 

1  Among  the  important  decisions  of  early  State  courts,  which  deal 
with  the  relations  of  miner  and  agriculturist,  are  the  following  :  Hicks 
vs.  Bell,  3  Cal.,  227;  Irwin  vs.  Philips,  5  Cal.,  145;  Stoakes  vs.  Barrett, 
5  Cal.,  39;  McClintock  vs.  Bryden,  5  Cal.,  97;  Tartar  ?;s.  Spring  Creek 
Mining  Company,  5  Cal.,  398;  Conger  vs.  Weaver,  6  Cal.,  556;  Burdge  vs. 
Underwood,  G  Cal.,  45;  Nims  vs.  Johnson,  7  Cal.,  110;  Martin  vs.  Brown, 
11  Cal.,  12;  Burdge  vs.  Smith,  14  Cal.,  380;  Henshaw  vs.  Clark,  14  Cal., 
4(i0;  Smith  vs.  Doe,  15  Cal.,  100;  Gillam  vs.  Hutchinson,  10  Cal.,  153; 
Coryell  vs.  Cain,  16  Cal.,  573;  Lentz.iJs.  Victor,  17  Cal.,  271;  Fremont 
vs.  Seals,  18  Cal.,  433;  Rogers  vs.  Soggs,  22  Cal.,  444;  Ripley  vs.  Welch,  23 
Cal.,  452.  For  mining-c?^6m  cases.  Woodruff  vs.  North  Bloonifield 
Mining  Company,  opinions  of  Judges  Sawyer  and  Deady,  printed  in 
San  Francisco  journals  of  second  week  in  January,  1884. 

259 


260  MINING-CAMPS. 

gulch.  At  this  point  these  local  rules  stop:  arbitra- 
tors must  decide  the  amount  of  loss  in  each  individual 
case. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  mining-interests  were  in 
those  days  held  to  be  altogether  predominant  in  impor- 
tance to  the  agricultural  interests,  over  the  entire  gold- 
bearing  area.  Law  was  made  by  the  miners,  for  the 
miners ;  and  this  meant  in  practice  a  disregard  of  agri- 
cultural interests  that  seems  unjust  and  short-sighted, 
until  we  have  analyzed  its  causes,  and  comprehended 
its  reasons.  Nominally,  we  may  remark,  the  district- 
rule  in  early  days,  and  the  decision  of  State  courts 
afterwards,  was,  that  full  damages  must  be  paid:  in 
practice  the  obtaining  of  a  fair  compensation  was  often 
difficult. 

At  an  early  date  the  State  courts  of  California  de- 
cided that  "agricultural  lands,  though  in  possession 
of  others,  may  be  worked  for  gold ; "  that  "  the  right 
belongs  to  the  miner  to  enter  on  public  mineral  lands, 
although  used  for  agricultural  purposes  by  others,  and 
whether  enclosed,  or  taken  up  and  entered  under  the 
Possessory  Act."  "  All  persons,"  it  is  held,  "  who  settle 
for  agricultural  purposes  upon  any  mining-lands  in  Cal- 
ifornia, so  settle  at  their  own  risk ; "  they  do  it  "  sub- 
ject to  the  rights  of  the  miner,  who  may  at  any  time 
proceed  to  extract  any  valuable  metals  which  he  finds 
in  such  lands."  At  a  later  date,  some  cases  of  great 
hardship  and  loss  having  occurred,  it  was  decided  that 
"  the  enclosure  about  the  house  and  outbuildings  of  a 
farmer  is  protected  against  entry."  The  burden  of 
proof  was  thrown  upon  the  miner,  who  was  required  to 
justify  his  right  to  enter  upon  and  work  a  farmer's 
land  by  showing  that  the  land  was  public  land,  that  it 
contained  mineral,  and  that  he  proposed   to   occupy 


MINING  AND   AGEICULTTJRAL  INTERESTS.         261 

it  for  the  bond-fide  purpose  of  mining ;  and  he  must  pay 
for  the  growing  crops  destroyed  by  his  operations. 

The  State  passed  an  Act,  April  20,  1852,  providing 
that  persons  using  public  lands  for  pasturage  or  agri- 
culture might  bring  action  for  damages  against  miners 
who  enter  upon  said  lands,  but  must  not  interfere  with 
their  operations.  An  Act  of  April  25,  1855,  protected 
"growing  crops,  buildings,  and  other  improvements," 
in  the  mining-districts ;  but  closes  with,  "  Nothing  in 
this  Act  shall  prevent  miners  from  working  any  mineral 
lands  in  the  State  after  the  growing  crops  on  the  same 
are  harvested."  Decisions  under  these  Acts  were  nu- 
merous. In  every  case,  the  right  of  the  agriculturist 
to  use  and  enjoy  public  lands  was  considered  inferior  to 
the  right  of  the  miner  when  gold  was  discovered  in  the 
land.  The  Government  would  issue  no  patent  to  a 
pre-emption  claimant  upon  mineral  lands  who  claimed 
it  for  agricultural  purposes.  Mere  entry  and  possession 
gave  no  right  to  the  exclusive  enjoyment  of  public 
mineral  lands.  "  The  mines  of  gold  and  silver  are  as 
much  the  property  of  the  State,  by  virtue  of  her  sove- 
reignty, as  are  similar  mines  in  the  hands  of  private  pro- 
prietors ; "  and  the  State  has,  therefore,  the  "  sole  right* 
to  regulate  and  govern  these  mines."  Growing  wood 
and  timber  on  public  lands  "  belong  to  the  prior  appro- 
priator."  No  person,  under  pretence  of  holding  land 
as  a  town-lot,  can  take  up  and  enclose  a  tract  of  min- 
eral land  in  a  mining-district,  as  against  persons  who 
afterwards  enter  on  the  land  in  good  faith  to  dig  gold, 
and  who  do  no  injury  to  the  use  of  the  premises  as  a 
residence  or  for  business  purposes.  Decisions  like 
these,  and  many  of  a  similar  nature,  help  us  to  under- 
stand the  completeness  of  the  early  mining-rights. 

The  license  granted  by  the  State  to  each  and  every 


262  MINING-CAMPS. 

miner,  allowing  entry  upon  land  for  mining-purposes, 
as  we  have  amply  shown,  was  restricted  to  the  public 
lands.  No  person  could  enter  upon  agricultural  lands 
held  by  a  United-States  patent,  and  most  of  the  farms 
in  the  mining-counties  of  California  are  at  present  so 
held.i  In  cases  where  the  land  has  never  been  "  with- 
drawn as  mineral  land,"  but,  on  the  contrary,  has  been 
classed  by  the  Surveyor-General  as  "agricultural  public 
lands,"  the  burden  of  proof  rests  on  the  mineral  claim- 
ant. Within  the  last  year,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
has  rendered  a  number  of  decisions  upon  controversies 
of  this  character,  in  some  cases  overruling  the  decision 
of  the  commissioner  of  the  Land  Office.  He  has  de- 
cided, in  regard  to  placer-mining  on  small,  unnavigable 
streams,  that  it  is  well  settled  that  such  places  "  may 
be  api)ropriated ;  and  that,  as  to  the  water,  the  locator 
obtains  only  a  usufruct  in  it ;"  and  granted  a  patent  to 
a  claim  in  the  bed  of  Bear  River,  California.  Local 
laws  are  allowed  great  weight  in  such  decisions  in  the 
Territories. 

The  foregoing  illustrations  only  serve  to  emphasize 
the  predominance  of  the  mining-interests  during  the 
gold-era,  when  all  the  lands  of  the  Sierra  region  were 
unsurveyed ;  when  there  was  no  farm  in  the  mining- 
counties,  that  miners  could  not  condemn  and  mine  out, 
paying  for  only  the  actual  damages  done.  The  fairest 
of  gardens,  the  thriftiest  of  vineyards,  the  most  fruitful 
of  orchards,  one  and  all  were  liable  to  be  destroyed 
without  remedy,  by  the  early  placer-miners.  The  gold- 
seekers  could,  and  often  did,  sluice  away  roads,  or  cut 
them  across  by  channels  impassable  for  years,  undermine 
houses,  wash  away  fertile  land,  move  towns  to  new  sites, 

1  See  the  famous  case  of  Boggs  vs.  Merced  Mining  Company,  14  Cal. 
Rep.,  279,  iu  which  Chief  Justice  Fiekls  gave  the  decision. 


MINING   AND   AGRICULTUIIAL  INTERESTS.         263 

and  tear  the  old  location  down  to  bed-rock  with  tor- 
rents of  water.  There  are  towns  in  the  mining-region 
that  have  been  twice .  or  thrice  thus  removed ;  there 
are  others  that  have  been  "  tunnelled,"  and  "  coyoted," 
and  "  drifted,"  until  "  caves  "  and  "  breaks  "  are  of  not 
infrequent  occurrence  in  the  midst  of  streets  or  town- 
lots. 

But  it  has  not  been  destructive  always,  this  endless 
onslaught  of  the  miners  upon  rock  and  hillside,  vale 
and  cliff.  Lands  have  as  often  been  created  as  others 
have  been  ruined ;  barren  beds  of  rock  have  often  been 
filled  up  to  the  very  brim  with  rich  hillside  soil,  the 
alluvial  deposit  of  ages,  and  so  turned  into  gardens  of 
magnificent  beauty  and  exhaustless  fertility.  Farmers 
on  mountain  streams  in  the  early  days  have  more  than 
once  found  that  the  mud-laden  waters  from  mines  above 
them  brought  added  fruitfulness  to  their  soil.  Many 
persons  have  occupied  adjoining  tracts  for  mining  and 
for  agriculture,  and  have  used  water  first  for  gold- 
washing  and  then  for  irrigation.  Though  the  pre- 
eminent rights  of  the  miner  over  all  public  lands 
sometimes  worked  hardship,  yet  the  full  recognition  of 
these  rights  was  the  only  logical  conclusion  of  early 
California  society  ;  and  the  only  wonder  is,  that  so  few 
serious  difiiculties  occurred  in  the  gold-period,  over  this 
difficult  problem. 

The  earliest  authenticated  case  of  forcible  entry  upon 
fenced-in  property  used  for  agricultural  purposes,  of 
which  we  have  an  account,  occurred  in  Grass  Valley,  in 
the  spring  of  1850.  There  was  in  all  the  mountain 
land  no  more  lovely  and  fertile  a  spot  than  this  valley, 
when  the  placer-miners  began  work  there,  and  stripped 
its  soil  to  the  bed-rock  along  the  wonderfully  rich 
ravines :  there  is  no  lovelier  spot  to-day,  when  the  re- 


264  MINING-CAMPS. 

storing  hand  of  time,  and  the  labor  of  loyal  home- 
builders,  have  embowered  it  in  gardens  of  unsurpassed 
beauty ;  it  is  one  of  the  fairest  and  most  prosperous  of 
the  long  array  of  mining-towns,  once  mining-camps,  that 
nestle  in  the  Sierra  foot-hills,  or  rest  in  its  pine-clad 
canons. 

But  in  1850,  when  Grass  Valley  was  the  "  camp,"  two 
men  fenced  in  a  natural  meadow.  Here  they  could 
annually  cut  two  heavy  crops  of  hay,  which  was  worth 
eighty  dollars  per  ton ;  they  counted  upon  receiving  at 
least  four  hundred  dollars  per  acre  that  year.  How- 
ever, before  a  month  had  elapsed,  a  prospector  climbed 
the  brush  fence,  sunk  a  shaft  through  the  soil,  struck 
"pay  gravel,"  and  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours  the 
whole  hay-ranch  was  staked  out  in  claims  of  fifty  feet 
square ;  and,  as  tradition  reports,  the  ravaged  proprie- 
tors, through  neglect  or  inability,  did  not  obtain  a  single 
claim.  The  tract  was  not  property,  in  the  miners'  defi- 
nition. The  possessors  had  fenced  it,  subject  to  the  risk 
that  there  might  be  mineral  there.  They  ought  to  have 
prospected  it  for  themselves  first,  and  whispered  the 
secret  thereof  to  their  intimate  friends :  so  the  sturdy, 
red-shirted,  blue-overalled  miners  said. 

In  1851,  it  is  said  that  two  miners  began  to  sink  an 
exploration  shaft  in  Main  Street,  Nevada  City,  nearly  in 
front  of  the  office  of  the  South  Yuba  Canal  Company, 
and  in  the  business  centre  of  the  town.  A  sturdy 
merchant  came  out,  and  expostulated  with  them  ;  but 
was  promptly  told  that  nobody  had  made  any  law 
against  digging  down  to  bed-rock,  and  drifting  out  the 
streets,  and  they  proposed  to  try  it.  "  Then,  I'll  make 
a  law  to  suit  the  case,"  said  the  irate  and  energetic 
citizen,  himself  an  ex-miner.  Walking  into  his  store, 
he  came  out  with  an  array-revolver,  and  by  its  persua- 


MINING  AND   AGEICULTFRAL  INTERESTS.         265 

sive  presence  established  the  precedent  that  Main 
Street,  at  least,  was  not  mining-ground.  Of  course, 
this  was  an  extreme  case.  A  jury,  or  a  miners'  court, 
would  probably  have  decided  to  exempt  Main  Street 
from  exploration,  as  more  valuable  for  business  uses. 
But  in  the  lesser  towns  of  the  mining-region,  perma- 
nence did  not  exist.  Nothing  was  sacred ;  all  rights 
were  subject  to  the  claims  of  the  miner.  Many  a  case 
occurred,  where  the  entire  town  was  moved  to  an  adja- 
cent spot,  and  every  inch  of  the  soil  on  which  it  stood 
was  sluiced  away  from  grass-roots  to  bed-rock.  In 
many  other  cases,  the  miners  thought  it  better  to  tunnel 
underneath,  and  work  out  the  layers  of  rich  gravel  as 
best  they  could ;  though  this  sometimes  caused  disasters, 
and  buildings  slid  from  their  foundations  with  the  crum- 
bling soil  during  winter  rains. 

As  regards  the  destroying  of  roads  by  miners,  an 
instance  which  came  under  the  writer's  observation 
may  serve  to  illustrate  the  custom.  Nine  miles  of  well- 
built  mountain  road  connected  a  village  of  two  hundred 
inhabitants  with  the  county-seat.  Though  there  was 
no  district  organization  remaining  (in  1878),  its  influ- 
ence was  still  strong.  Along  the  river-bed,  filled  twenty 
feet  deep  with  the  wash  and  dShris  of  the  mines  of 
1850,  were  rich  spots,  neglected  by  those  careless,  hasty 
pioneers.  About  a  dozen  men  spent  their  illy-paid 
days  in  making  exp.eriments  here  and  there,  trying  to 
find  one  of  these  unspoiled,  unrifled  bits  of  a  placer. 
Two  of  these  prospectors  sank  a  shaft  at  the  edge  of 
the  gravel,  five  or  ten  feet  from  the  county-road,  and 
"  struck  it  rich."  They  worked  a  few  days,  and  found 
the  pay-streak  extended  into  the  hill ;  they  cut  a  rough 
and  barely  passable  wagon-road  through  the  dense 
thicket,  a  hundred  feet  higher  up  the  slope,  and  in  a 


266  MINING-CAMPS. 

week  had  torn  out  fifty  feet  of  the  road,  leaving  a 
chasm  twenty  feet  deep.  Farmers,  merchants,  county 
officials,  passed  by,  swore  at  the  climb,  told  them  to 
hurry  with  their  work,  and  asked  how  much  they 
meant  to  clean  up,  but  never  hinted  that  the  proceed- 
ing was  illegal  or  unjustifiable.  A  few  weeks  passed, 
and  the  small,  irregular  piece  of  virgin  ground  over- 
looked by  the  early  miners  was  swept  clean,  yielding 
enough,  it  is  said,  to  pay  for  a  well-stocked  farm  in 
the  Sacramento  Valley.  The  two  miners  tapped  a  ditch 
that  passed  by  on  the  hillside,  far  above  them,  hired  the 
use  of  the  water,  and  sluiced  earth,  rock,  and  bushes 
down  into  the  chasm  until  it  was  full  to  the  brim, 
ready,  when  fairly  settled  down,  to  form  a  good  foun- 
dation for  the  coUnty-road  again. 

Countless  stories  might  be  told  to  exemplify  the 
supreme  position  of  the  miner  in  early  California.  But 
there  was  little  abuse  of  that  supremacy.  Once  admit 
that  the  highest  use  of  the  soil  was  to  yield  gold,  and 
the  rest  follows  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  great  ma- 
jority of  the  early  farms  and  orchards  were  planted  on 
soil  that  was  guiltless  of  containing  gold  in  paying 
quantities,  and  so  remained  undisturbed.  In  one  case 
a  miners'  court  decided,  when  a  small  orchard  of  four- 
year-old  apple-trees  had  been  mined  out,  that  the  land 
was  worthless;  but  that  the  trees,  which  had  been 
brought  overland  from  Oregon,  were  worth  fifty  dollars 
apiece,  fruit  being  then  excessively  high-priced  in 
the  mines.  They  had  not  yet  borne  fruit,  but  the 
owner  received  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  for  them. 
We  have  heard  of  several  instances  where  men  who 
paid  high  prices  for  possessory  claims  to  agricultural 
lands  made  extensive  improvements;  and,  the  lands  be- 
ing entered   upon   for  mining-purposes,  no  equiyalent 


MINING  AND  AGRICULTUEAL  INTEEESTS.         267 

damages  could  ever  be  obtained.  In  Placerville  we 
were  shown  a  bit  of  meadow,  which  in  1881  had  been 
mined  out  five  or  six  times,  as  it  receives  the  rich 
wash  from  mines  above,  and  the  soil  from  the  hillsides. 
Pieces  of  waste  and  worthless  bed-rock,  swept  clean  by 
the  pioneers,  have  often  been  restored,  and  made  into 
beautiful  and  profitable  vegetable-gardens,  clover-fields, 
and  fruit-orchards,  simply  by  the  process  of  washing 
the  rich  surface-soil  of  the  hillside  down  into  the 
hollows,  by  using  the  hydraulic  method. 

As  a  rule,  in  the  mines,  agriculturists  and  miners 
lived  together  in  harmony  in  those  early  days.  The 
profits  of  vegetable-growing,  hay-raising,  etc.,  were  so 
great,  that  the  man  who  tilled  the  soil  often  made  more 
than  did  the  man  who  washed  out  gravel ;  and  their 
unity  of  interests  has  been  so  well  recognized,  that  in 
the  long  struggle  between  the  valley-farmers  and  the 
miners,  over  the  debris-question,  which  has  now  passed 
into  history,  the  farmers  of  the  mining-region  often 
helped  to  support  the  miners  through  their  thoroughly- 
welded-together  organizations. 

Of  that  great  struggle,  which  has  been  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  a  suit  between  valley-counties  and  mining- 
counties,  it  is  yet  too  soon  to  speak ;  for  a  generation 
must  pass  away  before  its  results  are  manifest.  But  it 
will  always  rank  as  one  of  the  most  important  judicial 
decisions  ever  made  in  an  American  State.  The  calcu- 
lations of  engineers  were,  that,  since  1876,  a  hundred 
million  cubic  yards  of  gravel,  sand,  and  clay  had  been 
washed  into  the  Yuba  and  its  tributaries  ;  that  in  1880 
some  15,220  acres  had  been  seriously  injured  by  these 
"  slickens  "  deposits ;  and  that  six  hundred  million 
cubic  yards  yet  remained  to  be  removed.  The  steady 
shoaling  of  navigable  rivers  and  bays  was  also  charged 


268  MINING-CAMPS. 

to  the  mining-detritus.  It  was  testified,  that,  prior  to 
1862,  at  least  thirty  thousand  miners  worked  the 
Yuba  and  its  branches.  The  citizens  of  the  valleys 
brought  many  suits  of  a  representative  character ;  and 
between  1877  and  1884  the  issue  was  fought  with  the 
best  legal  weapons,  and  funds  were  raised  on  both  sides 
by  means  of  associations.  The  question  was  sui  ge- 
neris :  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  lowlands  were 
pitted  against  the  hydraulic-mining  interests.  The  State 
Supreme-court  decision  of  Jan.  7, 1884,  was,  that  private 
rights  could  not  be  encroached  upon  under  guise  of 
"  miners'  customs,"  even  in  districts  where  the  statutes 
recognize  the  validity  of  such  local  laws.  The  maxims 
of  the  common  law  in  reference  to  water-rights  were 
fully  sustained,  and  a  perpetual  injunction  granted 
against  the  miners  "  unless  they  can  so  mine  as  not  to 
injure  the  valleys."  The  rights  of  miners  to  use  places 
of  deposit  for  "  tailings  "  and  other  mining-debris,  sub- 
stantially supported  by  earlier  decisions,  were  thus  sub- 
ordinated to  agricultural  interests  ;  and  only  the  alter- 
natives of  "  drifting  "  out  the  rich  gravel,  or  of  im- 
pounding, satisfactorily  to  the  courts,  the  hydraulic 
debris^  have  been  left  the  miners.  The  hidden  wealth 
of  the  pliocene  river-channels  is  so  great,  that  many 
portions  of  them  will  pay  for  working,  even  by  these 
more  expensive  methods ;  but  the  early  predominance 
of  mining  over  agricultural  interests,  granted  by  local 
law,  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past. 

The  time  is  not  far  off  when  the  varied  agricultural 
possibilities  of  the  old  mining-region  will  be  recognized 
as  second  to  that  of  no  territory  of  equal  size  on  the 
Pacific  Coast ;  and  when  the  population  supported  by 
agricultural  and  horticultural  pursuits  within  those 
famous  mining-districts  whose  laws  we  have  studied, 


MINING  AND    AGRICULTURAL  INTERESTS.         269 

and  whose  early  organizations  we  have  described  in  the 
previous  chapters,  will  be  greater  then  that  of  those 
camps  in  their  "flush  times."  The  land,  every  acre  of  it, 
will  pass  under  full  private  ownership,  held  by  govern- 
ment-patent ;  and  the  mineral  in  the  land  will  belong  to 
the  dweller  thereon.  Indeed,  the  railroads  and  various 
large  corporations  now  hold  a  great  part  of  the  lands 
in  this  mineral  belt  once  entirely  public  lands.  The 
timber  is  being  removed,  the  iron  is  being  smelted,  the 
valuable  stone-quarries  worked ;  in  some  places,  colonies 
of  settlers  are  planting  orchards  and  vineyards,  orange- 
groves  and  olivariums,  using  for  irrigation  the  water  of 
mining-ditches  cut  by  the  labor  of  the  energetic  pioneers 
of  '49,  enlarged  and  extended  by  the  vast  associated 
capital  of  later  years.  The  future  of  the  mining-region 
used  to  be  a  favorite  subject  of  conversation  with  the 
late  Mr.  B.  B.  Redding,  one  of  the  foremost  nature- 
students  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  one  of  the  noblest  and 
most  generous  of  men,  the  friend  and  associate,  all  his 
life,  of  the  pioneers,  founders,  and  leaders  of  the  State. 
He  used  to  say  that  Italy,  Spain,  and  southern  France, 
all  combined,  would  some  day  seem  poor  in  comparison 
with  eight  or  ten  counties  of  the  mineral  belt  of  Cali- 
fornia, whose  resources  in  horticultural  directions  were 
simply  incalculable.  The  work  done  in  that  region  dur- 
ing the  past  five  years  has  gone  far  towards  justifying 
Mr.  Redding's  bold  prediction. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

DECISIONS    OF    CALIFORNIA    AND    OTHER    COURTS    RE- 
SPECTING LOCAL  LAWS  AND  CUSTOMS. 

The  miners'  local  land-laws,  as  we  have  heretofore 
seen,  rested  on  the  proposition  that  the  soil  was  all 
J  government  property,  and  that  the  nation  allowed  them 
the  use  thereof,  under  a  possessory  title,  even  though 
they  should  never  wish  to  purchase  it.  Digging  gold 
was  early  declared  to  be  "  a  franchise  from  the  govern- 
ment, and  free  to  all."  In  this  faith,  American  miners 
developed  the  system  we  have  been  studying  in  notes 
from  the  laws  of  different  camps.  But  the  hundreds  of 
important  mining-litigations  that  occurred  during  the 
gold-era  of  California  preserve  in  their  dreary  wastes 
some  precious  bits  of  local  history,  like  diamonds  in  the 
sea-sands.  Law  is  the  great  shrine-builder,  after  all. 
The  wrecks  of  old  systems,  the  superstitions  of  forgot- 
ten races,  the  customs  of  perished  kingdoms,  are  frozen 
in  this  iceberg  of  law,  sealed  forever  in  its  translucent 
prison-walls,  as  mammoths  in  the  ice  of  the  Siberian 
tundras ;  or,  if  we  choose,  we  may  use  a  gentler  simile, 
and  call  law  the  amber  of  the  Baltic,  making  precious 
each  bit  of  ancient  life  intrusted  to  its  care.^ 

1  Among  the  important  cases  in  the  California  Reports  referring  to 
** local  laws  and  customs,"  are  the  following,  besides  many  others: 
People  V8.  Naglee,  1,  238;  Hicks  vs.  Bell,  3,  219;  Mitchell  vs.  Hagood,  6, 
148;  Davis  vs.  Butler,  6,  511;  Fairbank  vs.  Woodhouse,  (j,  433;  Sims  vs. 
Smith,  7,  148  ;  McKeon  vs.  Bisbee,  9,  137  ;  Packer  vs.  Heaton,  9,  568 ; 
270 


DECISIONS  RESPECTING   LOCAL   LAWS.  271 

We  find  that  because  the  early  miners  of  California, 
in  their  plain^  effective,  and  untechnical  system,  had 
made  use  the  only  basis  of  ownership,  they  also  or- 
dained that  the  same  piece  of  ground  could  be  occupied 
and  owned  by  different  persons  at  the  same  time,  pro- 
viding it  was  required  and  held  for  different  purposes. 
If  one  man  held  a  placer-claim  for  placer-uses,  and 
another  miner  discovered  a  quartz-ledge  on  the  same 
tract,  it  could  be  recorded  and  held  without  any  inter- 
ference from  the  placer-miner.  If  there  was  also  an 
unclaimed  spring  or  stream  of  water  on  the  same  tract, 
it  could  be  taken  up,  or  claimed,  for  mining-purposes, 
by  still  a  third  prospector ;  and  these  three  men  might 
long  continue  to  use  and  enjoy  the  profits  of  their  sepa- 
rate interests  in  the  same  small  tract.  Ground  taken 
up  for  mining  could  be  again  taken  up  for  fluming  pur- 
poses. Riparian  rights  were  possessory,  and  subject  to 
much  the  same  rules  that  governed  the  holdings  of 
mineral  lands ;  neither  party  claiming  absolute  owner- 
ship.i 

The  State  courts  recognized  as  legal  mining-claims 
those  held  by  local  law  and  customs,  and  also  those 
held  by  actual  occupancy  of  government-lands.      But 

Jones  vs.  Jackson,  9,  237;  O'Keiffe  vs.  Cunningham,  9,  589;  Clark  vs. 
McElvy,  11, 154;  Waring  vs.  Crow,  11,  366;  California  vs.  Moore,  12,  56; 
McGarrity  vs.  Byington,  12,  426;  Jackson  vs.  F.  R.  &  G.  W.  Co.,  14,  22; 
Merritt  vs.  Judd,  14,  64;  Brown  vs.  '49  and  '56  M.  Co.,  15, 160  and  20, 
198;  Clark  vs.  Duval,  15,  85;  Edmond  vs.  Chew,  15,  142;  Roach  vs.  Gray, 
16,  387;  English  vs.  Johnson,  17,  107;  Atwood  vs.  Fricot,  17,  37;  Prosser 
vs.  Parks,  18,  47;  Gore  vs.  McBrayer,  18,  582;  Logan  vs.  Driscoll,  19,  623; 
Table  M.  T.  Co.  vs.  Stranchan,  20,  198;  Copper  Hill  M.  Co.  vs.  Spencer, 
25, 18;  Martin  vs.  Solamho,26,  527;  St.  John  vs.  Kidd,  26,  263;  Hess  vs. 
Winder,  30,  349;  Stone  vs.  Bumper,  46,  318;  Shay  vs.  Ryan,  46,  33.  Also 
California  Legislature,  Act  of  April  14,  1860;  Act  of  May  17, 1861;  and 
Act  of  April  4,  1864. 

1  "  Surveys,  notices,  stakes,  and  blazing  of  trees,  followed  by  work, 
.  .  .  give  title  to  unclaimed  water."  Kimball  vs.  Gearbeart,  12  Cal.,  27. 


272  MINING-CAMPS. 

the  size  of  claims  must  not  be  unreasonable :  even 
where  no  local  law  exists  to  limit  them,  it  must  con- 
form to  the  general  usages  of  miners.  The  customs  of 
miners  in  the  definition  of  quartz-ledges  are  entitled  to 
great  if  not  controlling  weight.  Proof  of  similar  cus- 
toms in  other  districts  besides  that  in  which  a  claim  is 
located  is  not  improper.  Subsequent  mining-rules  of  a 
district  have  been  accepted  as  valuable  evidence  to  aid 
in  determining  prior  rights.  The  entire  mining-code  of 
a  district  must  be  considered,  not  merely  a  portion  of 
it.  The  State  courts  waived  the  right  of  inquiry  into 
the  "  regularity  of  the  modes  in  which  these  local  legis- 
latures or  primary  assemblages  act.  They  must  be  the 
judges  of  their  own  proceedings.  It  is  sufficient  that 
the  miners  agree,  whether  in  public  meeting,  or  after 
due  notice,  upon  their  local  laws,  and  that  these  are 
recognized  as  the  rules  of  the  vicinage."  ^  Consonant 
with  this  is  the  decision  that  the  authority  of  "  mining- 
customs  "  is  to  be  allowed  to  take  precedence  of  written 
district-laws  which  have  been  disregarded  or  long  neg- 
lected. What  gives  district-laws  their  authority  is  not 
their  mere  enactment,  but  the  obedience  and  acquies- 
cence of  the  miners  following  upon  that  enactment; 
and  a  custom  in  itself  reasonable  and  generally  observed 
ought  certainly  to  take  precedence  over  a  generally 
ignored  district  written  law.  The  moment  a  district-law 
falls  into  disuse,  it  is  void.  This  question  has  been  held 
"  one  of  mere  fact,  for  the  jury  to  determine ; "  and  simi- 
lar in  nature,  recognizing  the  will  and  intention  of  the 
miners'  assembly,  is  a  decision,  that,  "  although  mining- 
laws  were  passed  on  a  different  day  from  that  men- 
tioned in  the  notice  calling  the  meeting,  they  are  not 

1  Gore  vs.  McBrayer,  18  Cal.,  582. 


DECISIONS   EESPECTING  LOCAL  LAWS.  273 

invalidated.  It  is  sufficient  that  the  miners  agreed 
when  they  did  meet.  The  regularity  of  their  local 
meetings  is  not  to  be  questioned." 

Controversies  must  be  settled  by  the  customs  and 
usages  of  the  "  bar  "  or  "diggings  "  embracing  the  claim 
in  question,  whether  such  customs  be  written  or  un- 
written. Miners  have  the  right  to  prescribe  rules  gov- 
erning acquisition  and  divesture  of  title  to  claims,  and 
their  extent,  subject  only  to  State  laws.  But  mining- 
rules  must  not  limit  the  number  of  claims  that  a  person 
may  acquire  by  purchase,  nor  prevent  prospectors  from 
locating  mines  for  others. 

No  acts  are  required  of  the  miner  other  than  use  of 
his  property  in  accordance  with  local  laws.  He  need 
not  live  on  his  claim  (though  government-land  could 
not  be  held  for  agricultural  purposes  unless  used  as  a 
homestead  by  the  claimant),  nor  need  he  build  upon 
it,  nor  cultivate  it,  nor  enclose  it.  His  title  is  funda- 
mentally different  from  that  of  the  agricultural  settler. 
And  it  has  also  been  decided,  that  the  right  the  miner 
has  possessed  since  1848  to  enter  and  mine  upon 
government-land  carries  with  it  the  right  to  whatever 
else  is  needful,  such  as  use  of  water  and  of  wood.  It 
includes  the  right  to  build,  to  make  a  home,  to  plant 
orchards  and  gardens.  But  fences  are  not  necessary 
for  the  miner :  the  defining  of  his  boundaries  by  district 
monuments  is  sufficient.  He  still  keeps  his  homestead, 
not  by  agricultural  pre-emption,  but  by  a  miner's  pos- 
sessory title,  and  as  a  privilege  attached  to  the  owner- 
ship of  his  claim. 

It  was  decided  by  the  Colorado  courts,  that  not  until 
compliance  with  district  rules  had  been  attacked,  was 
any  proof  of  such  compliance  required ;  that  if  the 
district,  for  instance,  made  "notices"  and  "prospect- 


274  MINING-CAMPS. 

stakes"  sufficient  without  registry,  it  is  taken  for 
granted,  without  proof  to  the  contrary,  that  the  local 
law  is  obeyed.! 

In  Montaria,  as  in  California,'  it  was  decided  that  the 
rights  of  ownership  vested  in  a  person,  under  the  rules 
of  a  given  mining-district,  are  not  affected  by  a  change 
in  the  district  boundaries :  the  old  rules  still  govern  as 
regards  size,  but  not  as  regards  method  of  working.^ 

In  the  old  California  camps,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
verbal  conveyance  of  a  claim  was  sufficient.  Until 
1860  the  validity  of  such  verbal  sales  was  fully  sus- 
tained by  the  State  courts,  which  had  previously  held 
that  writing  ^as  not  necessary  to  vest  or  to  divest  the 
title ;  which  title  is  in  the  government,  and  the  right 
to  mine  is  in  the  local  custom.  A  transfer  may  as 
well  be  by  simple  possession  as  by  deed.  All  miners' 
claims,  under  local  law,  to  public  mineral  lands,  are  to 
be  regarded  as  titles ;  but  the  right  passed  by  a  bill  of 
sale,  without  seal  and  without  warranty,  is  only  a  pos- 
session, and  is  subject  to  a  superior  right. 

The  penalty  of  forfeiture  fixed  by  camp-laws,  if  a 
certain  amount  of  work  was  not  performed,  has  been 
amply  sustained  by  the  courts.  A  person  who  had 
abandoned  his  claim  was  not  allowed  to  re-assert  his 
former  interest  to  the  prejudice  of  others.  In  questions 
of  "abandonment,"  the  intention  governs.  The  rule, 
custom,  and  usage  of  the  district  must  be  open,  plain, 
notorious,  so  that  the  miner  leaving  his  claim  knows 
that  his  action  is  tantamount  to  an  intention  of  aban- 
donment. If  a  miner  attempts  to  hold  more  than  local 
custom  permits,  any  other  miper  can  take  possession  of 
and  work  the  surplus  portion,  and  the  injured  party 

1  Sears  vs.  Taylor,  4  Colorado  Rep. 

2  King  vs.  Edwards,  1  Moutaua,  236. 


DECISIONS   RESPECTING   LOCAL   LAWS.  275 

cannot  recover  damages.  The  term  "  forfeiture  of 
rights,"  as  used  in  mining-customs,  has  been  decided 
to  mean  "  the  loss  of  a  right  previously  acquired  to 
mine  a  particular  piece  of  ground,  by  reason  of  neglect 
or  failure  to  comply  with  local  rules  and  customs." 
Forfeiture  re-opens  a  claim  to  immediate  location  by  a 
new  owner.  But  in  the  absence  of  any  custom  or  local 
regulation  of  the  given  district  on  the  point,  the  right 
of  property  in  a  claim  is  not  nullified  by  lack  of  dili- 
gence in  working  it.  According  to  recent  decisions 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  it  is  not  necessary  to 
require  miners  re-locating  a  lode  to  furnish  positive 
and  complete  proof  of  its  abandonment  by  a  former 
locator.  The  fact  that  such  abandonment  was  alleged 
in  the  notice  of  location,  and  published  in  the  manner 
and  for  the  time  required  by  law,  is  thought  sufficient, 
provided  that  no  adverse  claim  is  presented.  Full 
recognition  of  the  force  and  authority  of  local  laws  is 
nowhere  more  evident  than  in  the  State-court  decisions 
regarding  abandonment  of  claims. 

Those  special  rights  granted  to  discoverers  of,  and 
first  locators  upon,  new  placers,  receive  encouragement 
from  State  decisions,  which  ruled  that  "the  owner  of 
the  oldest  location  on  a  stream  or  caiion-bed  may  dam 
up  the  canon  to  work  his  claim,  even  though  it  floods 
other  claims  the  owners  of  which  are  damnum  absque 
injuria^  Ordinarily  each  person  mining  in  the  same 
stream  is  "  entitled  to  use,  in  a  proper  and  reasonable 
manner,"  both  the  channel  of  the  stream,  and  the  water 
flowing  therein.  According  to  good  law  and  reason, 
miners  were  forbidden  to  deposit  the  waste  gravel,  or 
"tailings,"  on  other  men's  claims. 

As  regards  actual  work  done  upon  a  claim,  the 
local  laws  have  been  sustained  and  liberally  interpreted 


276  MINING-CAMPS. 

by  State  courts.  Work  on  adjoining  land  to  construct 
roads ;  drains  and  improvements  necessary  to  develop- 
ment of  the  mines ;  efforts  made  to  procure  machinery, 
as  the  hauling  of  the  same ;  starting  a  tuhnel,  though 
at  a  considerable  distance,  to  run  into  the  lead  or 
deep  gravel-bed,  —  these  and  similar  labors  are  termed 
"  work  "  in  the  eyes  of  the  law ;  such  acceptance  being 
in  fullest  accord  with  miners'  local  legislation. 

Mining-claims  having  been  recognized  as  property, 
and  the  course  of  local  enactments  being  to  give  their 
ownership  the  permanence  of  real  estate  held  under 
United-States  laws,  we  find  that  in  1861  those  provisions 
of  the  law  exempting  mines  from  taxation  were  re- 
pealed. "The  interest  of  the  occupant  of  a  mining- 
claim  is  property  liable  to  taxation,  and  to  being  taken 
and  sold  under  execution." 

We  have  previously  seen  how  great  a  monthly  tax 
was  levied  upon  foreigners  in  the  early  mining-days. 
By  1861  the  tax,  once  thirty  dollars  per  month,  had 
been  reduced  by  successive  State  enactments  to  fgur 
dollars.  The  tax-collector  of  the  county  was  then  au- 
thorized to  sell  at  public  auction,  on  one  hour's  notice 
by  proclamation,  the  mining-property  of  any  person 
refusing  to  pay  such  tax.  Americans  connected  in  any 
way  with  foreigners  in  working  mining-ground  were 
held  liable  for  the  amount  of  license  of  each  such  for- 
eigner. This  tax  upon  foreigners  was  held  to  be  only 
a  license-fee,  and  its  imposition  not  contradictory  to 
the  powers  of  Congress.  And  "the  State  alone  can 
enforce  the  law  which  prohibits  foreigners  from  working 
mines  without  a  license :  "  other  miners  could  not  take 
the  law  into  their  own  hands,  and  trespass  on  such 
claims. 

The  mass  of  printed  material  relating  to  the  decisions 


DECISIONS   RESPECTING  LOCAL  LAWS.  277 

of  district,  county,  Territorial,  or  State  courts,  upon 
mining-subjects,  is  so  extensive  that  the  illustrations 
already  given  form  but  a  small  part  of  the  whole.  Vol- 
ume after  volume  of  Western  law-reports  deal  with 
mining-cases,  and  contain  laborious  researches  into 
Spanish  archives,  and  Californian  provincial  history, 
and  the  masterly  deductions  of  unsurpassed  judicial 
intellects.  A  book  written  by  a  lawyer,  for  lawyers, 
upon  some  of  the  great  mining-cases  of  California,  from 
those  of  the  early  fifties  in  Tuolumne,  Placer,  and 
Butte,  to  the  famous  group  of  "  mining-debris "  cases 
of  the  last  few  years,  would  be  a  notable  work,  and 
one  well  worth  the  while  of  some  fully-equipped  jurist. 
From  a  lawyer's  stand-point,  the  worst  thing  about 
the  local  laws  of  the  early  camps  was  their  lack  of 
uniformity ;  but  from  an  institutional  stand-point,  this 
irregular  and  spontaneous  element  is  their  strongest 
claim  to  a  place  in  Western  history,  A  great  need 
called  them  into  existence:  they  grew  in  accordance 
with  the  nature  of  things,  as  simply  and  surely  as  pines 
grow  in  a  forest.  Yet  we  have  previously  shown  many 
points  of  resemblance ;  and  a  still  closer  analysis  of  the 
hundreds  of  codes  of  old  camps  now  obtainable  —  of 
camps  from  every  mining-county  of  California,  Nevada, 
Oregon,  and  some  of  the  Territories  —  proves  that  the 
local  laws  and  usages  over  this  great  region  are  based 
upon  five  principles:  to  have  each  claim  of  definite 
size ;  to  enforce  the  law  of  use ;  to  maintain  "  in- 
clined locations  "  (^gestrechfeld)  in  case  of  quartz  ;  to  re- 
cord all  claims ;  and  to  insist  on  this  record  as  final  in 
case  of  dispute.  All  these  appear  to  be  Germanic  ideas, 
now  a  part  of  our  race-equipment  for  the  world's  battle, 
but  none  the  less  a  heritage  from  Teutonic  ancestors. 
German,  English,  American  laws,  adopt  the  "inclined- 


278  MINING-CAMPS. 

location"  idea,  — that  a  man  takes  up  a  piece  of  mineral 
land  for  the  lode  alone,  and  shall  have  the  right  to 
follow  it  downward  indefinitely,  including  all  dips,  spurs, 
and  angles.  Spanish  law  insists  upon  "square  loca- 
tions," simply  the  surface,  and  all  beneath  it  in  a  per- 
pendicular direction.  Some  high  authorities,  such  as 
Professor  Raymond,  prefer  the  latter  system,  as  greatly 
lessening  litigation.  Commissioners,  among  whom  were 
Clarence  King,  J.  W.  Powell,  and  Thomas  Donaldson, 
recommended,  in  1880,  the  abandonment  of  the  "in- 
clined-location "  system.  It  is  a  question  that  should, 
of  course,  be  decided  upon  practical  grounds ;  but  it  is 
not  likely  that  our  present  system  will  soon  be  dis- 
carded. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  EXTENSION  AND  PERMANENT  INFLUENCE  OF 
MINING-CAMP  LAW. 

The  varied  methods  by  which  camps  were  governed, 
and  district-law  enforced,  and  the  acceptance  of  their 
enactments  by  the  early  State  courts,  have  probably 
received  sufficient  illustration  ;  but  the  way  in  which 
these  enactments  spread  over  the  surrounding  territory, 
and  ultimately  aided  to  form  a  national  system  of  min- 
ing-law, deserves  our  attention,  as  added  proof  of  its 
creative  force. 

Recognition  by  State  legislatures  began  with  Cali- 
fornia, in  1851,  when  senators  and  representatives, 
acknowledging  the  fact  that  the  miners  had  perfected 
a  practical  working-system,  provided  that  in  all  actions 
respecting  such  claims  the  proceedings  of  the  miners' 
meetings  should  be  regarded,  by  the  courts,  "so  far  as 
they  are  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  and  constitution 
of  the  State."  It  was  this  Legislature  that  conferred 
jurisdiction  in  all  cases  of  mining-claims,  whatever 
their  value,  upon  the  local  justices  of  the  peace. 

A  little  before  this  time,  the  very  existence  of  the 
mining-code  had  been  in  great  danger.  When  John  C. 
Fremont  was  United-States  senator  from  California,  he 
introduced  a  bill  to  establish  police-regulations  through- 
out the  mining-region,  and  levy  a  small  tax  upon  the 
miners.     At  that  time  —  the  winter  of  1850-51  —  such 

279 


280  MINING-CAMPS. 

a  measure  would  have  destroyed  the  institutions  so  rap- 
idly developing  in  the  camps  of  energetic  gold-seekers. 
The  discussion  in  the  Senate  was  a  tedious  one.  Many 
of  the  senators  favored  sale  of  all  mineral  lands  to  the 
highest  bidders.  But  it  is  to  those  great  but  widely 
different  leaders,  Seward  and  Benton,  that  the  full 
acceptance  by  the  nation  of  the  policy  of  free  mining 
on  government-land  was  finally  due.  They  vainly 
urged  it,  and  at  last  insisted  upon  delay  in  legislation. 
A  year  later  the  local  regulations  of  the  mining-camps 
were  so  satisfactory,  that  Congress  hesitated  to  change 
the  system.  Meanwhile,  the  miners  accepted  this  de- 
lay as  a  tacit  recognition  of  their  demands,  a  tacit 
promise  to  legalize  their  possessory  rights.  So  they 
pushed  forward  their  explorations  of  gravel-beds  and 
rock-ledges,  of  ravines  and  mountains;  they  increased 
their  investments  in  machinery,  water-ditches,  costly 
tunnels,  flumes^  embankments,  and  other  requisites  of 
their  gigantic  undertakings. 

By  1861  the  miners'  customs,  usages,  laws,  and  reg- 
ulations had  spread  outward  from  California,  whose 
court-decisions  were  almost  universally  followed,  and 
were  recognized  in  other  States  and  Territories  of  the 
West.  In  Colorado  the  miners  made  local  laws  long 
before  the  Territorial  legislature  attempted  to  regulate 
such  things.  Illinois  District,  Gilpin  County,  allowed 
claims  to  be  two  hundred  feet  long  by  fifty  feet  wide, 
and  prospectors  were  allowed  to  locate  claims  for  others. 
In  November,  1861,  the  Legislature  of  Colorado  decided 
that  valid  mineral  locations  could  only  be  made  in  full 
accordance  with  the  local  laws  of  the  district  in  which 
the  location  was  made.^ 

1  Sullivan  vs.  Hense,  Colorado  Rep.,  vol.  2,  p.  425. 


THE   EXTENSION  OF  MINING-CAMP  LAW.  281 

The  laws  of  Nevada  Territory,  passed  in  November, 
1861,  declare  that,  — 

"In  actions  respecting  mining-claims,  proof  shall  be  admitted 
of  the  customs,  usages,  or  regulations  established  and  in  force  in 
the  mining-district  embracing  such  claim ;  and  .  .  .  [they]  shall 
govern  the  decision  of  the  action  in  regard  to  all  questions  of  loca- 
tion, possession,  and  abandonment.'* 

The  laws  of  Nevada,  in  1862,  provided  that,  — 

"  All  conveyances  of  mining-claims  .  .  .  shall  be  construed  in 
accordance  with  the  lawful  local  rules,  regulations,  and  customs  of 
the  miners." 

The  "location  and  transfers  of  mining-claims  .  .  . 
shall  be  established  and  proved  before  courts  by  the 
local  rules,  regulations,  or  customs  of  the  miners  in  the 
several  mining-districts."  ^ 

The  Nevada  statute  of  Feb.  27,  1866,  provided 
that,  — 

"  The  extraction  of  gold  or  other  metals  from  alluvial  or  dilu- 
vial deposits,  generally  called  placer-mining,  shall  be  subject  to 
such  regulations  as  the  miners  in  the  several  mining-districts  shall 
adopt." 

Idaho,  Feb.  4,  1864,  ordained  that,  — 

"  The  conveyance  of  quartz-claims  shall  be  construed  in  accord- 
ance with  the  local  mining  rules,  regulations,  and  customs  in  the 
several  districts." 


1  The  local  laws  of  Reese-river  mining-district,  passed  in  1862,  and 
amended  in  1864,  provided  for  a  mining-recorder,  whose  fees  were  one 
dollar  for  every  location  registered.  The  term  of  ofi&ce  of  said  recorder 
was  one  year,  "  unless  sooner  removed  by  an  election  called  by  fifty  or 
more  claim-holders."  The  size  of  a  claim  is  fixed  at  two  hundred  feet 
on  a  ledge,  "  with  all  the  dips,  spurs,  angles,  offshoots,  outcrops,  depths, 
widths,  and  variations."  An  application  of  twenty-five  miners  is  sul» 
flcient  to  call  a  miners'  meeting. 


282  MINING-CAMPS. 

Arizona  provided  that  the  size  of  the  mining-claims, 
or  pertenencias,  should  be  regulated  within  given  areas 
by  the  miners ;  and,  further,  that  the  records  of  mining- 
districts  "  shall  not  be  rejected  for  any  defects  in  their 
form  when  their  contents  may  be  understood."  Twelve 
or  more  persons  were  allowed  to  form  a  new  district, 
"make  laws  therefor,  and  elect  a  recorder."  Mon- 
tana passed  a  Territorial  Act  allowing  thirty  or  more 
miners  to  hold  district-meetings,  and  "  make  all  laws 
not  conflicting  with  vested  rights."  Oregon,  in  a  stat- 
ute of  1867,  ordained  that  "  any  person  may  hold  one 
claim  by  location,  and  as  many  by  purchase  as  the 
local  laws  of  the  district  allow ; "  also,  that  the  miners 
"  shall  be  empowered  to  make  local  laws  "  in  relation 
to  the  possession  of  water-rights,  the  possession  and 
working  of  placers,  and  the  survey  and  sale  of  town- 
lots  in  mining-camps,  "subject  to  the  laws  of  the 
United  States.". 

Thus  the  local  law  of  the  miners  had  won  recogni- 
tion in  State  courts,  and  had  extended  to  other  States 
and  Territories.  It  also  gained  a  liearing  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  In  1865  Chief  Justice 
Chase,  in  one  of  his  decisions,  said,  — 

"  A  special  kind  of  law,  a  sort  of  common  law  of  the  miners, 
the  offspring  of  a  nation's  irrepressible  march,  —  lawless  in  some 
senses,  yet  clothed  with  dignity  by  a  conception  of  the  immense 
social  results  mingled  with  the  fortmies  of  these  bold  investiga- 
tors,—  has  sprung  up  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  presents  in  the 
value  of  a  'mining-right'  a  novel  and  peculiar  question  of  juris- 
diction for  this  court."  ^ 

Senator  Stewart  of  Nevada,  himself  a  miner  of  1849, 
and  one  who  helped  to  govern  some  of  the  early  camps 

1  In  Supreme  Court  U.  S.,  Dec,  18<)5,  ease  of  Sparrow  vs.  Strong  ; 
appeal  from  Story  Co.,  Nev.  :  3  Wallace,  U.  S.  Sup.  Cfc.,  p.  100. 


THE   EXTENSION   OF   MINING-CAMP  LAW.  283 

of  nortliern  California,  speaks  eloquently  of  the  legis- 
lative work  done  by  the  pioneers.  In  a  letter  to  Sena- 
tor Ramsay,  and  in  a  speech  delivered  in  the  Senate  in 
June,  1866,  he  exclaims  that  the  Argonauts  "  found  no 
laws  governing  the  possession  and  occupation  of  mines 
but  the  common  laws  of  right  which  Americans  alone 
are  educated  to  administer.  They  were  forced  to  make 
laws  for  themselves.  The  reason  and  justice  of  the 
laws  they  formed  challenge  the  admiration  of  all  who 
investigate  them.  Each  mining-district  in  an  area  ex- 
tending over  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  square  miles 
formed  its  own  rules,  and  adopted  its  own  customs. 
The  similarity  of  these  rules  and  customs  throughout 
the  entire  mining-region  was  so  great  as  to  attain  all 
the  beneficial  results  of  well-digested  general  laws. 
These  regulations  were  thoroughly  democratic  in  their 
character,  guarding  against  every  form  of  monopoly, 
and  requiring  continued  work  and  occupation  in  good 
faith  to  constitute  a  valid  possession."^  About  the 
same  time  the  Conness  Committee  Report  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  said,  — 

"The  miners'  rules  and  regulations  are  not  only  well  under- 
stood, but  have  been  construed  and  adjudicated  for  now  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  .  .  .  By  this  great  system  established  by 
the  people  in  their  primary  capacities,  and  evidencing  by  the  high- 
est possible  testimony  the  peculiar  genius  of  the  American  people 
for  founding  empire  and  order,  popular  sovereignty  is  displayed  in 
one  of  its  grandest  aspects,  and  simply  invites  us,  not  to  destroy, 
but  to  put  upon  it  the  stamp  of  national  power  and  unquestioned 
authority." 

In  another  place  the  same  report  says,  — 

"  The  rules  and  regulations  of  the  miners  .  .  .  form  the  basis 
of  the  present  admirable  system   arising  out   of  necessity;   they 

1  Speech,  reported  iu  Cong.  Globe,  June  19,  1866. 


284  MINING-CAMPS. 

become  the  means  adopted  by  the  people  themselves  for  establish- 
ing just  protection  to  all.  .  .  .  The  local  courts,  beginning  with 
California,  recognize  those  rules,  the  central  idea  of  which  was 
priority  of  possession."  ^ 

Congress  passed  an  Act  July  26,  1866,  which  recog- 
nized the  "  force  of  local  mining-customs,  or  rules  of 
miners  wherever  not  conflicting  with  the  laws  of  the 
United  States."  Subsequent  Acts,  principally  the  Act 
of  1872,  have  defined  the  entire  subject  of  mining-law; 
and  decisions  of  the  courts  and  of  the  heads  of  the 
departments  have  followed  in  the  lines  laid  down  by 
the  Acts  of  1866  and  1872.  The  manner  in  which  a 
United-States  land-patent  may  be  obtained  for  any 
land  claimed  and  located  for  valuable  mineral  deposits 
is  now  fully  set  forth.  The  payment  of  five  dollars 
per  acre  is  required,  and  the  smallest  legal  subdivision 
is  ten  acres.  After  a  notice  of  "  intention  to  purchase  " 
a  described  tract  of  mineral  land,  sixty  days  are  allowed 
for  other  parties  to  file  their  adverse  claims,  if  any  such 
exist;  after  the  expiration  of  this  time,  no  objection 
from  third  parties  shall  be  heard  except  it  be  shown 
that  the  applicant  has  failed  to  comply  with  the  law. 
Congress  has  required  that  placer-locations  upon  sur- 
veyed lands  shall  conform  to  public  survej^s  in  all  cases 
except  when  this  is  made  impossible  by  the  previous 
appropriation  of  a  portion  of  the  ten  or  more  acres 
desired  (that  is,  by  claims  held  under  local  law),  or 
where  it  "is  impracticable  to  so  locate  the  claim." ^ 
It  is  the  evident  intention  of  the  mining-laws  to  allow 
persons  to  take  a  certain  quantity  of  land  fit  for  mining. 
Where  the  entire  placer-deposit  in  a  canon  within  cer- 
tain limits  is  claimed,  and  where  the  adjoining  lands  are 

1  Report  to  Senate,  May  28,  18G6. 

«  Act  of  July  9,  1870;  modilied  by  Act  of  Muy  10,  1872. 


THE  EXTENSION   OF   MINING-CAMP   LAW.  285 

unfit  for  any  use  whatever,  the  claimant  need  not  con- 
form to  the  survey-lines."  ^ 

The  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States,  relatnig 
to  mineral  lands  and  mining-resources,  supersede  and 
repeal  many  provisions  of  the  Acts  of  1866,  1870,  and 
1872;  but  mineral  lands  are  still  "free  and  open  to 
exploration  and  purchase  .  .  .  under  regulations  pre- 
scribed by  law,  and  according  to  the  local  customs  or 
rules  of  miners  in  the  several  mining-districts,  so  far 
as  the  same  are  applicable,  and  not  inconsistent  with 
the  laws  of  the  United  States."  The  sections  referring 
to  locators  and  their  exclusive  right  of  possession  and 
enjoyment  of  their  mining-claims,  to  tunnel-rights,  to 
miners'  regulations  and  improvements,  to  existing  rights, 
to  vested  rights  in  the  use  of  water,  to  rights  of  way 
for  canals,  and  to  titles  of  town-lots  as  subject  to 
mineral  rights,  are  all  of  tliem  distinct  recognitions  of 
early  local  law,  and  afford  plain  evidence  of  its  wide- 
spread influence. 

This  liberal  policy  has  filled  the  ravines  of  the  Rockies 
with  prospectors  and  miners.  It  has  fostered  freedom, 
and  aided  the  beginnings  of  law.  Men  still  form 
mining-camps,  still  govern  them  under  local  forms ;  but 
as  soon  as  the  district  proves  of  permanent  value,  they 
usually  abandon  this  form  of  organization,  for  township, 
county,  and  territorial  forms;  for  they  are  not  only 
miners,  but  also  citizens  of  the  Republic,  and  they 
look  forward  to  State  life  and  national  relationship. 

In  the  course  of  the  development  we  have  endeavored 
to  trace,  the  most  prominent  fact  appears  to  be  the 
wide-spread  effect  of  these  informal  laws  of  frontiers- 
men.    The  best  talent  in  the  State  of  California  was 

1  Recent  decision  of  Secretary  Teller,  February,  1884. 


286  MINING-CAMPS. 

engaged  at  last  in  the  task  of  codifying  the  scattered 
camp-laws,  eliminating  their  manifold  contradictions, 
and  remedying  their  shortcomings.  Slowly,  through  a 
long  series  of  years,  a  multitude  of  wise  judicial  decis- 
ions moulded  scattered  customs,  fragmentary  camp- 
laws,  relics  of  the  folk-moot  era,  survivals  of  the  alcalde 
period,  usages  of  the  time  of  the  later  hydraulic  mining, 
into  an  apt,  terse,  strong,  useful,  and  compreherdive 
system  of  common  law,  regulating  not  only  the  rights  of 
miners  over  mineral  ground,  but  also  their  riparian  rights. 
Then  the  nation  recognized  its  responsibility,  and  the 
work  of  creating  a  general  system  was  begun.  There 
is  much  yet  to  do ;  a  National  School  of  Mines  must  be 
established,  and  stricter  legislation  is  required  to  pre- 
vent wasteful  mining:  but  the  great  features  of  the 
present  law  are  thoroughly  consonant  with  the  spirit 
of  republican  institutions.  This  we  owe  to  the  men 
of  the  mining-camp. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

EFFECTS,  SOCIAL  AND  INTELLECTUAL,  UPON  WESTERN 
DEVELOPMENT. 

Conservation  of  energy  is  an  axiom  of  science. 
Though  every  mining-camp  perished  to-morrow,  the 
impulse  that  gave  them  birth  would  still  survive.  The 
local  life,  strength,  and  energy  of  the  early  camps  has 
already  passed  as  a  powerful  force,  not  as  a  name,  into 
the  warp  and  woof  of  society.  So  far-reaching  and 
powerful  have  been  the  influences  of  camp-life  and 
camp-law  upon  the  growing  communities  of  the  Far 
West,  that  one  might  almost  be  justified  in  the  belief 
that  a  new  social  order  would  thus  be  produced. 
Everywhere,  over  the  great  region  we  have  been  study- 
ing, the  spirit  of  the  past  abides  in  multitudinous  forms. 

It  matters  not  that  the  elder  camps  have  decayed ; 
nor  that  the  elder  pioneers  have  departed,  as  the  "  poet 
of  the  Sierras  "  expressed  it,  "  to  prospect  the  stars ;  " 
nor  that  county  officials  sit  where  alcaldes  sat,  and 
schoolhouses  stand  where  folk-moots  met  of  old.  The 
men  and  women  whose  childhood  was  passed  in  these 
camps  are  beginning  to  control  the  State.  Each  com- 
munity, once  welded  together  in  camp-life,  possesses  a 
unity  of  feeling  that  bids  fair  to  be  permanent.  This 
is  true  of  California,  and  may  reasonably  be  expected 
to  prove  true  of  the  later-settled  mining-regions.     We 

287 


288  MINING-CAMPS. 

observe,  in  the  newest  camps  of  the  British-Columbia 
border,  the  same  spirit  of  swift,  healthy  camp-life,  the 
same  return  to  primitive  forms  of  jurisprudence,  the 
same  American  determination  that  crime  shall  be  pun- 
ished, property  and  life  made  safe :  therefore  we  may 
have  faith  that  the  same  results  will  follow  there  as  in 
California,  that  stable  communities  will  be  established, 
and  higher  forms  of  society  evolved. 

The  nature  of  the  forces  long  ago  set  at  work  in  new 
Western  communities  by  the  institutions  of  the  typical 
camp  can  best  be  illustrated  by  a  case  which  was  but 
one  of  a  thousand.  It  occurred  in  1858,  in  California; 
and*  some  of  those  concerned  in  the  enterprise  are  still 
alive.  The  "  surface  diggins  "  of  the  camp  were  ex- 
hausted, but  rich  gravel  was  thought  to  lie  beneath  the 
mountain,  to  be  reached  only  by  a  tunnel  of  great  cost ; 
and  the  men  who  owned  the  possessory  right  to  tunnel 
were  all  poor.  They  met,  and  talked  it  over,  counted 
their  funds,  and  began  work ;  blasted  a  hole  forty  feet 
in  the  rock  —  no  more  money  in  the  treasury.  They 
borrowed  quite  an  amount  in  small  sums,  paying  no 
interest,  and  drove  the  tunnel  deeper.  They  appointed 
a  number  of  men  to  continue  the  work,  while  the  rest 
of  the  company  hired  themselves  out  at  daily  wages 
to  support  them,  and  buy  the  necessary  tools  and 
blasting-powder.  Economy  was  the  order  of  the  day, 
and  fraternal  co-operation  was  its  watchword.  At  last 
they  won :  a  company  of  poor  and  uneducated  men,  by 
reason  of  perfect  faith  in  each  other,  and  grim,  tireless 
persistence,  carried  a  load  that  capitalists  would  have 
refused,  and  walked  at  last  into  Nature's  treasure- 
house,  finding  a  bed  of  gravel  rich  enough  to  amply 
repay  them  all.  It  was  not  thought  a  remarkable  thing 
in  those  days.     All  over  California,  groups  of  compara- 


EFFECTS   UPON   WESTERN  DEVELOPMENT.         289 

lively  poor  men  were  standing  by  each  other  in  the 
same  manly  way.  Now,  that,  in  the  last  analysis,  was 
and  is  the  feeling  fostered  in  true  mining-camp  life.  In 
camps,  too,  we  have  something  of  the  guild  idea.  The 
weavers  and  the  goldsmiths  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  the 
fraternity  feeling,  and  so  have  the  miners  of  America. 
Sturdy  self-reliance,  mingled  and  tempered  with  a  high 
appreciation  of  one's  dependence  upon  others;  the 
power  to  stand  alone;  the  power  to  organize,  if  need 
be,  with  sudden  energy  and  startling  swiftness,  —  these 
were  traits  fostered  by  the  patient  toil  of  the  miners  of 
America;  and  because  of  qualities  such  as  these,  the 
fame  of  the  pioneers  of  California  and  the  Rockies  has 
gone  wherever  winds  blow  or  waters  run. 

The  physical  spread  of  the  mining-camp  influence, 
through  wandering  prospectors  and  miners  from  de- 
serted camps,  assumes  in  this  connection  a  greater 
importance  than  before.  We  have  studied  the  growth 
of  the  miners'  code  from  the  rude  regulations  of  the 
few  camps  of  1848.  We  have  alluded  to  the  nature 
of  the  frequent  mining  excitements  that  inevitably 
extended  this  code ;  but  some  of  the  features  of  this 
movement  deserve  especial  prominence.  In  1859,  for 
instance,  several  thousand  California  miners  went  to 
Cariboo,  British  Columbia ;  in  1860  the  first  mining 
was  done  in  Idaho,  on  the  Clearwater  and  Salmon ;  and 
hundreds  of  Californians  hastened  thither.  The  same 
year,  also,  the  Washoe  rush  began;  and  within  two 
years  the  sage-brush  deserts  and  treeless  mountains  of 
Nevada  were  explored,  the  treasures  of  Coso,  Pioche, 
Tuscarora,  Esmeralda,  Potosi,  Humboldt,  Reese,  and 
other  districts  had  been  unveiled ;  while  Bodie  in  Cali- 
fornia was  also  discovered.  The  year  1862  also  wit- 
nessed the  rush  to  Boise,  and  to  the  John  Day  region 


290  MINING-CAMPS. 

in  Oregon,  in  which  State  the  Powder  and  Burnt  River 
placers  had  been  found  the  previous  year.  The  Owyhee 
mines  drew  prospectors  in  1863,  the  quartz  of  Alturas 
in  1864,  the  placers  of  the  Big  Bend  of  the  Columbia 
in  1865,  White  Pine  in  1866.  California  sent  out  thirty 
thousand  or  forty  thousand  stalwart  and  well-trained 
miners  in  these  three  or  four  years. 

The  reasons  for  such  an  exodus  are  not  hard  to  find. 
When  the  surface-wealth  of  California  became  so  nearly 
exhausted  that  men  could  no  longer  make  the  wages 
to  which  they  had  been  accustomed,  they  became  rest- 
less ;  when  surface  miners  could  no  longer  make  living 
wages,  their  occupation  was  clearly  gone.  The  game 
was  "  played  out ; "  so  was  the  camp.  There  were 
then  a  few,  more  fortunate  or  more  frugal  than  the 
majority,  who  were  able  to  unite  in  companies  to  pur- 
chase machinery,  build  forty-mile  flumes,  explore  the 
deeper  auriferous  channels  of  blue  gravel,  tunnel  solid 
rock  and  walls  of  lava,  turn  the  course  of  rivers,  sink 
deep  shafts,  —  to  hold  their  own,  in  brief,  throughout 
the  new  era  of  capital  and  monopoly.  The  weak  men 
sank  into  laborers  for  the  new  companies,  or  became 
searchers  for  precarious  finds  in  the  gravel-heaps  of  the 
past.  Hundreds  of  energetic  men  of  small  means  were 
still  able  to  hold  and  work  mining-property  on  a  mod- 
erate scale,  but  the  one  resource  of  the  strong  was  to 
find  a  new  camp.  The  great  majority  of  those  to  whom 
the  mines  were  no  longer  liberal  swarmed  out  of  the 
busy  hive,  as  has  ever  been  the  custom  of  the  pioneers 
of  our  race.  When  the  smallest  coin  used  for  change 
in  California  sank  from  a  twenty-five-cent  piece  to  ten 
cents,  the  emigration  began ;  when  it  sank  still  farther 
to  five  cents,  the  disgust  and  despair  of  the  genuine 
forty-niner  can  hardly  be  described.     He  felt  the  earth 


EFFECTS   UPON   WESTERN  DEVELOPMENT.         291 

slipping  away  from  under  his  feet.  Even  as  late  as 
1878,  in  Trinity  County,  five-cent  pieces  were  very 
rarely  seen,  and  were  sometimes  refused.  The  smallest 
coin  expected  for  a  service  was  a  quarter.  Nickels 
were  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  miners.  Every 
thing  smaller  than  half  a  dollar  was  rather  disrespect- 
fully denominated  "  chicken-feed." 

Under  these  conditions,  hundreds  of  miners  became 
tillers  of  the  soil;  but  other  hundreds  swarmed  out 
into  the  unexplored  spaces,  searching  the  ranges  that 
loom  higher  and  higher  northward  into  British  Colum- 
bia and  Alaska,  crowned  with  eternal  snows,  and  dread- 
ful with  arctic  dangers.  Perhaps  some  of  them  sailed 
up  the  Yukon,  the  "Amazon  of  the  North,"  long  before 
Carl  Ritter  had  heard  its  name  or  knew  its  vastness. 
Indeed,  in  1874,  a  San  Luis  Obispo  (California)  miner 
told  the  writer  that  he  spent  a  summer  prospecting 
in  Alaska  for  gold,  long  before  1856.  Miners  once  of 
California,  but  now  of  the  world  at  large,  prospected 
the  chief  districts  of  the  new  South-west  and  of  the 
new  North-west,  becoming  leading  citrizens  in  Arizona, 
New  Mexico,  Utah,  Montana,  Idaho,  Wyoming ;  names 
familiar  as  household  words  to  old  Californians  appear 
and  re-appear  in  the  records  of  Tombstone,  Gandelaria, 
Leadville,  San  Carlos,  the  Black  Hills.  They  followed 
the  Rockies  across  the  lines,  northward,  southward. 
American  prospectors  drifted  into  the  French-Canadian 
settlements  on  the  Saskatchawan,  bringing  lumps  of 
silver  and  nuggets  of  gold  from  the  then  unexplored 
regions  which  the  Canadian-Pacific  Railroad  is  entering 
from  east  and  west  with  giant  strides.  American  pros- 
pectors drifted  into  Mexico;  adopted  sombreros  and 
tortillas;  creviced  for  gold  with  Spanish  machetes^  in- 
stead of  with  Tuolumne-county  butcher-knives;   built 


292  MINING-CAMPS. 

rockers,  long-toms,  and  sluice-boxes,  of  Mexic  cedar, 
instead  of  California  sugar-pine ;  affiliated  with  the 
people,  fought  Indians  for  them,  taught  them  better 
methods  of  mining,  and  prepared  the  way  for  closer 
international  relations. 

But  the  migratory  impulse  circling  outward  from 
Sutter's  ruined  mill  had  a  meaning  for  lands  outside 
of  North  America.  It  ultimately  became  of  world- 
wide influence.  E.  H.  Hargreaves,  for  a  time  a  Cali- 
fornia miner,  returned  to  his  home  in  Australia,  leaving 
good  diggings.  He  went  to  the  government,  received 
an  appointment  to  search  for  gold,  and  in  a  short  time 
discovered  the  placers  of  that  mighty  island-continent. 
Many  Californians  followed  his  footsteps,  leaving  a 
strong  impress  upon  the  local  mining-legislation  and 
"miners'  councils"  of  Australia,  particularly  of  Vic- 
toria. In  1860  thousands  of  miners  went  to  Barba- 
coas,  New  Granada;  but  the  mines  proved  a  failure. 
Large  companies  were,  however,  organized  at  times  in 
the  placer-camps  of  California,  and  went  to  Central 
America,  to  Peru,  Chili,  Equador,  Brazil,  and  Pata- 
gonia. They  spent  vast  sums  of  money,  endured  ex- 
treme hardships,  and  surmounted  enormous  difficulties. 
Some  of  them  acquired  fortunes :  others  lost  all  their 
gains  of  toilsome  years  in  California.  Even  within  the 
past  year  (1884),  many  old  and  experienced  miners 
have  gone  to  the  Transvaal  Republic,  to  Australia,  to 
Chili,  to  the  United  States  of  Colombia,  and  to  Ven- 
ezuela; some  in  the  employ  of  capitalists,  others  on 
prospecting  tours  of  their  own,  but  all  of  them  spread- 
ing abroad  the  spirit  of  American  mining-law.  Wher- 
ever, since  the  brave  days  of  '49,  these  miners  went, 
they  "  stood  by  each  other ; "  they  had  "  pards,"  and 
local  government ;  they  could  not  forget  the  hard  but 


EFFECTS  UPON  WESTERN  DEVELOPMENT.    293 

sweet  discipline  of  their  loved  and  lost  camps  once 
nestling  beneath  the  Sierra  snow-peaks ;  they  clung 
fast  to  the  ethics  of  that  stormy  world  whose  stern 
code,  it  was  once  said,  "  is  the  creation  of  the  American 
miner ;  and  he  loves,  trusts,  and  obeys  it."  As,  of  old, 
Greece  was  wherever  Greeks  dwelt ;  so  the  spirit  of 
the  typical  camp  is  with  all  American  miners,  wherever 
they  wander.  Some  have  toiled  in  Tibet  and  Assam, 
in  Siberia  and  South  Africa,  in  the  mountains  of  Abys- 
sinia, and  in  the  rivers  of  Guinea.  The  rich  mines 
rumored  to  exist  in  Corea  and  in  Madagascar  have  long 
attracted  the  hungry  gaze  of  these  bronzed  and  auda- 
cious prospectors.  A  party  of  them  built  a  steamboat, 
and  explored  the  Yukon  two  summers  ago;  another 
party  has  visited  southern  Arabia ;  more  than  one  ex- 
pedition of  miners  has  gone  gold-hunting  in  the  South 
Seas,  among  the  isles  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  Last  sum- 
mer a  number  of  California  prospectors,  after  explora- 
tions in  Alaska,  met  with  a  fearful  storm;  and  their 
schooner  went  down  with  all  on  board.  Everywhere 
it  is  the  same  type,  —  unconquerable  kindliness,  per- 
sistence, and  simplicity,  unwavering  enthusiasm,  un- 
blenching  courage. 

The  writer  met  a  prospector  in  1876,  in  Shasta  Coun- 
ty, California ;  age  forty-five,  health  perfect,  great  fund 
of  humor,  keen  observation,  grammar-school  education 
supplemented  by  much  study.  He  rode  a  mule,  total 
impedimenta  was  less  than  thirty  pounds ;  had  journeyed 
from  northern  Montana,  was  on  his  way  to  Mexico, 
staked  his  mule  out  by  the  roadside,  and  the  total  cost 
of  the  entire  trip  was  expected  to  fall  within  twenty 
dollars.  In  1881  we  again  met  the  same  prospector 
near  Calico  Camp,  San  Bernardino  County.  He  was 
riding  a  pinto  horse,  but  otherwise  appeared  unchanged 


294  MINING-CAMPS. 

for  better  or  for  worse.  When  asked  to  give  an  account 
of  himself,  he  replied  that  he  had  been  in  Lower  Cali- 
fornia, had  crossed  northern  Mexico,  spent  some  months 
in  Sonora,  then  in  New  Mexico;  sold  several  good  "pros- 
pects," and  made  money.  He  then  went  to  Western 
Colorado  to  take  a  hand  in  the  expected  invasion  of  the 
Indian  country;  hunted  for  silver  in  "the  Mormon 
country,"  for  nitrates  in  southern  Nevada;  tried  his 
fortune  in  one  of  the  old  mining-camps  of  Mono ;  and 
had  gone  on  steadily  in  a  similar  round,  seldom  staying 
more  than  a  few  weeks  at  a  place.  But  he  had  helped 
to  start  Calico,  and  it  was  a  "  pretty  good  camp,"  well- 
organized  and  prosperous:  so  he  should  probably  stay 
there.  Such  a  man  is  the  individual  prospector,  a  per- 
son who,  though  often  solitary  for  days  and  weeks,  can 
readily  join  others,  and  create  a  society,  found  a  camp, 
establish  a  town. 

Out  of  the  camps  of  old,  powerful  currents  have 
flowed  into  the  remotest  valley  of  the  western  third 
of  the  American  continent.  A  central  fact  of  early 
New  England  is  the  town-meeting;  of  early  Virginia, 
the  plantation ;  of  the  Pacific-coast  and  Rocky-moun- 
tain region,  the  mining-camp.  It  has  taken  hold  of 
popular  fancy,  has  become  enshrined  in  tradition,  and 
looms  up  across  the  gateways  of  the  history  of  new 
States.  We  walk  the  streets  of  San  Francisco :  leaders 
in  business  here,  who  once  were  citizens  of  a  camp,  and 
swingers  of  picks  in  the  beds  of  mountain  torrents. 
We  enter  the  political  field :  giants  of  debate  and 
caucus  here,  whose  first  efforts  to  control  their  fellow- 
men  were  under  the  Mariposa  oaks,  or  beneath  the  dome 
of  Shasta.  We  traverse  the  pastoral  regions  of  the 
West,  prairies  dotted  for  miles  with  cattle,  herds  upon 
a  thousand  hills :  sun-browned  patriarchal  princes  here. 


EFFECTS   UPON  WESTEEN  DEVELOPMENT.         295 

a  hundred  herdsmen  at  their  command,  five  hundred 
horses  in  their  manadas ;  and  under  the  starlight,  as 
we  ride  homeward,  our  host  will  tell  stories  of  "how 
we  druv'  the  Sydney  Ducks  outen  Pine  Flat,"  and 
"  the  hanging  of  the  man  what  killed  Steve  Truegood's 
pard."  We  visit  the  prosperous  and  beautiful  colonies 
of  southern  California,  fair  as  a  garden  of  the  Lord,  — 
realms  of  cherry  and  apple,  olive  and  orange,  grape  and 
pomegranate,  fig  and  guava,  loquat  and  passiflora,  fruits 
and  flowers  of  two  broad  zones,  mingled  in  rapturous 
profusion  underneath  azure  skies  as  of  Capri  and  Sicily ; 
and  here  also,  in  the  midst  of  colonists  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  is  some  man  of  pre-eminent  force  and  dignity 
of  character,  trained  in  the  school  of  the  early  mines, 
transmuting  by  earth's  subtile  alchemy  his  golden 
nuggets  of  '49  to  yet  more  golden  apples  of  Hes- 
perides,  and  planting  golden-banded  lilies  of  Osaka  in 
the  place  of  golden  leaves  from  Proserpine's  subter- 
ranean gardens.  We  may  even  seek  the  great  cities, 
whither  all  currents  flow,  —  New  York,  London,  Paris, 
Berlin,  St.  Petersburg,  —  the  marts  of  commerce,  the 
counting-houses  of  Barings  and  Rothschilds,  the  courts 
of  tsar  and  emperor,  the  wonderful  Broadways  of  many 
a  metropolis,  flowing  like  Amazonian  rivers  day  and 
night  without  pause :  and  we  shall  find  men  long-trained 
in  the  lessons  of  the  mining-camps  walking  as  calm 
conquerors  through  the  midst  of  this  world  of  tumult, 
action,  and  desperate  struggle,  ruling  railroad  systems, 
laying  ocean  cables,  planning  for  isthmus  canals,  aiding 
in  a  thousand  enterprises  that  require  energy,  capital, 
knowledge  of  men,  and  prestige  of  former  success ;  yet 
faithful  in  heart,  cosmopolites  though  they  are,  to  the 
memories  of  their  young  manhood,  the  companions  of 
their  Argonautic  quest,  the  "  pards  "  of  their  pick-and- 


296  MINING-CAMPS. 

shovel  days  in  Sierra  or  Rocky.  Upon  facts  like  these 
rest  the  social  results  of  the  mining-camp  training. 

But  what  of  things  intellectual?  What  new  forces, 
strong  to  shape  the  future,  passed  into  the  life  of  the 
nation  because  of  the  mining-era^  Again  we  must 
turn  to  California  as  the  first  of  the  mining  common- 
wealths. Here  the  era  of  the  camps  is  already  ancient, 
and  forever  of  the  past.  Its  influence  extends  uncon- 
sciously along  the  channels  of  daily  existence,  and 
colors  the  opinions  of  thousands  who  never  heard  of  a 
mining-camp ;  but  its  fundamental  importance  consists 
in  its  place  as  a  classical  and  heroic  background  for 
modern  life.  To  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  true 
mining-era  now  lies  a  century  or  two  behind  the  Cali- 
fornia of  to-day.  The  system  of  compulsory  arbitration, 
and  the  ruling  committee  of  seven  elders,  adopted  in 
1640  by  the  pioneers  of  Portsmouth,  marked  no  greater 
difference  from  the  Rhode-Island  Commonwealth  of  to- 
day, than  did  the  arbitrators  and  alcaldes  of  the  mining- 
camps  represent  a  different  California  from  that  of  the 
present  time.  Institutionally,  the  mining-camp  under- 
lies these  Western  commonwealths,  but  intellectually  it 
represents  a  colonial  era ;  while  the  Spanish  period  lies 
behind  it,  a  realm  of  romance  and  mystery.  Some  day 
all  this  must  pass  into  literature,  not  from  the  stand- 
point of  outside  observation,  but  from  the  wiser  stand- 
point of  men  and  women  of  home-training. 

Of  California's  hoped-for  poet,  it  has  been  said  by  one 
of  her  younger  writers  : 

"  He  could  not  be  among  those  mighty  men, 
The  Argonauts,  —  their  poem  was  the  State ; 
Their  hands  were  wed  to  pick  and  pan,  and  fate 
Gave  not  to  them  to  wield  the  slender  pen. 


EFFECTS   UPON   WESTERN  DEVELOPMENT.         297 

"  But  from  her  children  one  shall  rise  ere  long 
To  give  her  mystic  legends  fitting  lays, 
To  make  her  birds  and  flowers  known  to  fame, 
And  match  her  mountains  with  his  lofty  song."  ^ 

There  is  a  faith  held  by  many,  that  the  mingling  of 
civilizations,  the  crossing  and  tangling  of  varied  eras,  in 
California,  affords  an  increasing  opportunity  for  art  and 
literature ;  that  the  best  thoughts  of  the  dwellers  in 
this  sunny  land  will  some  day  be  equal  to  the  best  the 
green  earth  affords.  The  same  sort  of  influences  are  at 
work  throughout  the  mineral  region,  from  the  ancient 
pueblo  realm  of  New  Mexico,  to  the  shining  "  land  of 
the  silver  bow,"  as  the  Indians  called  Montana.  Laws 
change,  systems  decay ;  but  the  test  of  all  that  is  highest 
and  best  in  the  life  of  a  community  is  its  literary  expres- 
sion, its  poetry,  its  novels,  its  world-philosophies.  The 
greatest  value  to  the  States  of  the  Far  West,  of  an 
environment  so  different  from  that  of  merely  agricul- 
tural communities,  and  of  institutional  beginnings  of 
such  diverse  origins,  is  in  the  precious  materials  thus 
being  accumulated  for  art  and  song  and  tale,  for  litera- 
ture in  its  world-wide  illumination,  and  for  the  patient 
use  of  coming  genius. 

1  Charles  S.  Greene,  in  Overland  for  January,  1883. 


AUTHOEITIES  OOE"SULTED. 


[A  complete  bibliography  of  works  relating  to  the  subject-matter  of  this 
book,  if  extended  to  pamphlets  and  periodicals,  would  probably  be  quite  suf- 
ficient to  fill  another  volume.  We  must  refer  to  the  lists  of  books  and  manu- 
scripts relating  to  Mexico  and  California  in  Mr.  H.  H.  Bancroft's  "  History 
of  the  Pacific  States  of  North  America,"  and  m  the  "  Catalogue  of  the 
Mercantile  Library  of  San  Francisco ; "  also,  to  notes  and  references  through- 
out the  foregoing  pages. '\ 

MINING  IN  ASIA  AND  EUROPE. 

Asia:  Compendium  of  Geography  and  Travel.  Stanford. 
London,  1882. 

BoECKH :  Public  Economy  of  Athens.     2  vols. 

Burton  (R.  H.)  :  Gold  Mines  of  Midian ;  also  his  Explora- 
tions of  the  Highlands  of  Brazil  (1868),  chapter  on 
Mining  Systems. 

Camden:  Britannia.     (" Old  Authors,"  1870  edition.) 

Chevalier  :  Remarks  on  Production  of  Precious  Metals.  Tr. 
London,  1851. 

CoMSTOCK :  History  of  the  Precious  Metals.  New  York, 
1849. 

Cornwall:  Its  Mines  and  Miners.  London,  1857.  Also 
Hunt's  Romances  of  Cornwall. 

English  Mining  Cases,  in  King's  Bench  Reports :  espe- 
cially Rowe  vs.  Brenton,  Concannen's  Special  Report ; 
Smirke's  Report  ;  Rogers  vs.  Brenton  ;  Ivimey  vs. 
Stocker ;  Arkwright  vs.  Cantrell. 


300  AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED. 

Gmelin:  Reisen  durch  Sibirien.     4  vols.     Gottingen,  1751. 

Heeren  :  Historical  Researches  into  the  Politics  and  Trade 
of  Africa  and  Asia.  4  vols.  London,  tr.,  1860.  Also 
his  Ancient  History  (published  in  1833,  translated  by 
Mr.  George  Bancroft  in  1842). 

Heeodotus  :  Sayce's  edition.  Vol.  i.  and  appendices.  Lon- 
don, 1883. 

Hodgson  :  Histoid  of  Northumberland.     6  vols.     1857. 

Hunt  (Robert)  :  Mineral  Statistics  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
1865.     (Notes  on  Local  Customs.) 

Jacobs:  Historical  Inquiry  into  the  Production  of  Metals, 
etc.     London,  1851. 

Lalor  :  Cyclopaedia  of  Political  Science  ;  article  "  Mining.'* 
Professor  R.  W.  Raymond.  (Also,  Professor  Ray- 
mond's historical  article,  on  "Relation  of  Government 
to  Mining,"  in  the  United-States  Reix)rt  for  t&7^  on 
Mineral  Resources.)  <   , 

L  EoDGE  (Henry  Cabot)  :  The  Anglo-Saxon  Land  Law. 

Mining  Customs  and  Mineral  Courts  Act  (High  Peak  Dis- 
trict), English  Parliament.     1851. 

Pollock  (Frederick)  :  The  Land  Laws.  English  Citizen 
series,  1888. 

Reitemeier  (Dr.  J.  F.)  :  Geschichte  des  Bergbaues  und 
Huttenwesens  bei  den  alten  Volkern.  Gottingen,  1785. 
(Received  prize  of  Royal  Society  of  Sciences  ;  contains 
fragments  of  ancient  literature  on  mines  and  mining- 
organization.) 

ScHOMAN :  Antiquities  of  Greece.     London,  1826. 

Seebohm  :  English  Village  Communities. 

Sprenger  :  Alte  Geographic. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED.  301 

Travels  in  Asia  :  Atkinson  (Siberia)  ;  Curzon  (Armenia, 
1855)  ;  Haxthausen  (Transcaucasia)  ;  Mouhot  (Indo- 
China)  ;  Palmer  (Desert  of  the  Exodus)  ;  Pumpelly 
(Across  America  and  Asia)  ;  Travels  of  Porter,  Pal- 
grave,  Rawlinson,  Richthofen,  and  Stanley ;  Yule's 
Marco  Polo ;  Gill's  River  of  Golden  Sand  (Tibet,  etc.)  ; 
Colquhoun's  Across  Chryse  (Chinese  borderlands). 

Wilson  (Erasmus)  :  Egypt  of  the  Past.     London,  1882. 

Wyld  :  Notes  on  the  Discovery  of  Gold.     London,  1851. 

MINING  IN  AMERICA. 

AcosTA  (Father  Joseph)  :  Naturall  and  Morall  History  of 
the  Indies  (Hakluyt  Society  Publications) . 

Alcedo  (Antonio  de)  :  Diccionario  Geographico  Historico 
de  las  Indias  Occidentales.     Edition  of  1812. 

Alsopp  (Robert)  ;  California  and  its  Gold-mines.  London, 
1853. 

Anderson  :  Silver  and  Gold  of  the  South-west.     St.  Louis, 

1877. 

Arizona  :  Territorial  Laws  and  Reports. 

AuBERTiN  (J.  J.)  :  Flight  to  Mexico.     London,  1882. 

Avery  (B.  P.)  :  California  Pictures.     New  York,  1878. 

Bancroft  (H.  H.)  :  History  of  the  Pacific  States  of  North 
America.  13  vols.  (Particularly  Mexico,  vol.  vi.,  and 
California,  vol.  i. ;  1542-1800). 

Bates  (Mrs.  D.  B.)  :  Four  Years  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
Boston,  1860. 

Barry  (and  Patten)  :  Men  and  Memories  of  San  Francisco. 
1873. 

Bartlett  :  Personal  Narrative.     1854. 


302  AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED. 

Bausman    (William)  :    Early   California.      San    Francisco, 

1872. 

Benton  (J.  A.)  :  California  Pilgrim.     1853. 

Berry  :  Gold  of  California.     London,  1849. 

Bon  WICK  (J.)  :  Mormons  and  the  Silver-mines  of  the  West. 
1872. 

BoRTHwiCK  (J.  D.)  :  Three  Years  in  California.  Edin- 
burgh, 1857. 

Bowie  (August  J.)  :  Hydraulic  Mining  in  California.  San 
Francisco,  1878. 

Brocklehurst  :  Mexico  to-day.     London,  1883. 

Brooks  (B.  S.)  :  Alcalde-grants  in  San  Francisco.  Pio- 
neer Monthly,  vol.  i. 

Brooks  (J.  T.)  :  Four  Months  among  the  Gold-seekers. 
London,  1849. 

Bryant  :  What  I  saw  in  California. 

BuFFUM  (E.  G.)  :  Six  Months  in  the  Gold-mines.  Phila- 
delphia, 1850. 

Burnett  (Gov.  Peter  H.)  :  Recollections  of  an  Old  Pioneer. 
New  York,  1880. 

Burton  :  Across  the  Rocky  Mountains.     1862. 

California  Documents  :  1850.  (Correspondence  with 
alcaldes,  and  reports  to  the  successive  military  gov- 
ernors.) 

California  :  Journals  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly,  1849-^ 
1855  ;  Debates  in  Convention  of  1849,  J.  R.  Browne ; 
Law  Reports  and  Digest  (40  vols.)  ;  Statutes  of,  1854- 
66 ;  Speeches  of  Gwin,  Latham,  and  Rhodes ;  Pro- 
fessor Trask's  Senate  Report  (Sacramento,  1853-54). 


AUTHOEITIES  CONSULTED.  303 

California  :  County  Histories  and  Directories ;  Amador 
(1881)  ;  Alameda  (1878)  ;  Calaveras  (1880)  ;  Tuolumne 
(1856)  ;  Nevada  (1867  and  1878)  ;  also  Shasta  and 
Trinity  (1879). 

California  Pioneers  (Society  of)  :  Addresses  of  Messrs. 
Van  Voorhies,  Dwindle,  Clark,  Clay,  Freelon,  Kewen, 
Randolph,  Holmes,  Browne,  and  others. 

California:  Works  of  Travel  and  Observation  not  sepa- 
rately noted ;  Writings  of  Bowles,  Bushnell,  Evans, 
Loviat,  Linen,  M'Clellan,  Nordhoff,  Ord,  Parke,  Parry, 
Prime,  Rae,  Revere,  Roberts,  Saxon,  Seemann,  Simp- 
son, Soares,  Todd,  Vassar,  Warren,  Wilkes,  Wilkinson, 
Winthrop,  Wise,  Wogan. 

California  :  Its  Gold  and  Inhabitants.  London,  1856. 
2  vols. 

Calderon  (Madame  de  la  Barca)  :  Life  in  Mexico.  Lon- 
don, 1852. 

Carson  :  Early  Recollections  of  the  Mines.     Stockton,  1852. 

Castanares  :  Discovery  of  Gold  in  1844. 

Chamisso:  Californien  (1816). 

Chevalier  :  Le  Mexique,  Ancien  et  Moderne ;  2  vols. 
1864. 

Clavigero:  Historia  Mexico.     1787. 

Coke  :  Ride  over  the  Rocky  Mountains.     London,  1851. 

Collier:  Pictorial  Dictionary.     London,  1721. 

Colorado  Territorial  Enactments  ;  also.  Law  Reports.  Also 
Fossett's  descriptive  work  on  early  Colorado.  New 
York,  1879. 

CoLTON  :  Three  Years  in  California.     1856. 

CoNGDON  :  Mining  Laws  and  Forms.     San  Francisco,  1864. 

Coulter  :  Adventures  in  California. 


304  AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED. 

Dana  (R.  H.)  :  Two  Years  Before  the  Mast. 

Delano  :  Life  among  the  Diggiogs.     New  York,  1854. 

Emory  :  Military  Reeonnoissance.     1846. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Journal.     New  York.     38  vols. 

Engineering  and  Mining  Magazine.     New  York,  1869-74. 

Farnham  (E.  W.)  :  California  In  Doors  and  Out.  New 
York,  1856. 

Fitzgerald  (Rev.  O.  P.)  :  California  Sketches.  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  1879. 

Fisher  (Walter  M.)  :   The  Calif omians.     San  Francisco, 

1876. 
Forbes  :  History  of  Upper  and  Lower  California.     London, 

1839. 

Foster  (G.  G.)  :  Gold  Regions  of  California.  New  York, 
1848-49. 

Fremont  (and  Emory)  :  California  Guide-book.     New  York, 

1849. 

Froebel:  Seven  Years*  View  in  Northern  Mexico.  Lon- 
don, 1859. 

Gerstacker  :  Kalifomien  Gold.     Leipsic,  1856. 

Gleason  :  History  of  Catholic  Church  in  California.  Also, 
for  missions.  Reports  of  Padres  Piccola  (1702)  and 
Serra  (1773)  ;  Govenior  Figuero's  Manifesto  to  Mexi- 
can Government ;  Report  of  Father- Serra  Centennial  at 
Monterey,  Cal.,  Aug.  28,  1884,  in  San  Francisco  dailies. 

Gray  (William)  :  Pioneer  Times  in  California.  San  Fran- 
cisco, 1881. 

Hall:  Histoiy  of  San  Jos6  (California).     1871. 
Ha  WES    (Horace)  :     Missions    in    California    (pamphlet). 
1856.     Also,  his  arguments  in  Mexican  land-cases. 


AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED.  305 

Helper  (H.  R.)  :  Land  of  Gold.     Baltimore,  1856. 

Helps  (Sir  Arthur)  :  Spanish  Conquest.  4  vols.  London, 
1861. 

HiTTELL  (John  S.)  :  Resources  of  California.  San  Fran- 
cisco, 1874.     Also,  his  History  of  San  Francisco. 

Hughes  (Elizabeth)  :  The  California  of  the  Padres.  San 
Francisco,  1871. 

Humboldt  (Alexander  Von)  :  Essai  Politique  sur  la  Nou- 
velle  Espagne. 

Jones  (William  C.)  :  Report  on  Land- titles  in  California. 
Washington,  1850.  Also,  Pueblo  Question  solved. 
San  Francisco,  1860. 

King  (Clarence)  :  Mountaineering  in  the  Sierra.  Boston, 
1872. 

King  (Thomas  B.)  :  California,  Wonder  of  the  Age.  New 
York,  1850. 

Letts  (J.  M.)  :  California  Illustrated.     New  York,  1853. 

Marryat  (Frank)  :  Mountains  and  Molehills.  London, 
1855. 

Mayer  (Brantz)  :  Mexico,  Aztec,  Spanish,  Republican ; 
also  Mexico,  New  Mexico,  and  California.  Baltimore, 
1850. 

Mexican  Law:  Gamboa's  Commentaries  of  1761;  Orde- 
nanzas  de  Mineria  of  1783  ;  Recopilacion  de  las  Leyes 
de  las  Indias,  1781 ;  Constituciones  de  Mejico  y  de  las 
Estados  Mejicanos.  Chapters  in  H.  H.  Bancroft,  vol. 
vi.,  and  Woolsey's  Political  Science,  vol.  ii.,  chap.  vii. 
Decisions  in  California  Courts  relating  to  Mexican  land- 
grants  and  mineral  claims. 

Mining  and  Scientific  Press:  San  Francisco  (49  vols.). 

Mining  Record  (The)  :  New  York  (16  vols.). 


306  AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED. 

Nevada  :  Territorial  Acts  and  State  Reports. 

NicoLAY :  The  Oregon  Territory.     London,  1846. 

Ober:  Travels  in  Mexico.     Boston,  1884. 

Overland  Monthly  (The)  :  First  and  second  series.  Arti- 
cles on  Indians,  Missions,  Spanish  Period,  Mexico, 
Pueblos,  Mining-camps,  Pioneer  Days,  Early  Govern- 
ment, etc.  San  Francisco,  18G8-84.  The  interregnum 
between  the  two  series  was  occupied  by  "The  Calif or- 
nian." 

Palmer  :  New  and  Old  California.     New  York,  1852. 

Patterson  :  Twelve  Years  in  the  Mines  of  California. 
Cambridge  (Mass.),  1862. 

Parry  :  Mineral  Products  of  the  South-west. 

Periodicals,  etc. :  Articles  in  New  Englander,  1850 ;  Brit- 
ish Quarterly,  1850 ;  Edinburgh  Review,  1858 ;  Black- 
wood, 1857 ;  Quarterly  Review,  1850 ;  Macmillan's, 
1867 ;  Blackwood,  1851 ;  Scribner's  Monthly,  1878 ; 
Hesperian  Magazine,  San  Francisco,  1856-64 ;  Hutch- 
ings's  Magazine,  San  Francisco. 

Plummer:  Vigilantes  of  Montana.     Helena,  M.  T.,  1866. 

Philips  (and  Darlington)  :  Records  of  Mining.     1862. 

Prince  :  History  of  New  Mexico.     1882. 

Raymond  (R.  W.)  :  Statistics  of  Mines.     1869-73. 

Remond  :  Report  on  Northern  Mexico,  in  Proceedings  of 
California  Academy  of  Sciences,  vol.  iii. 

Rockwell  :  Compilation  of  Spanish  and  Mexican  Laws  re- 
lating to  Mines.     New  York,  1851. 

Ryan:  Personal  Adventures  in  California.  2  vols.  Lon- 
don, 1851. 

Shuck  :  Representative  Men  of  the  Pacific.     San  Francisco, 

1876. 


AUTHORITIES   CONSULTED.  307 

SouLi  :  Annals  of  San  Francisco. 

Taylor  (Bayard)  :  Eldorado.     New  York,  1850. 

Tyson  :  Geology  and  Industrial  Resources  of  California  (in- 
cluding official  reports) .     Baltimore,  1851. 

TuTHiLL  :  History  of  California.  Also,  works  of  Frost,  Nor- 
man, Capron,  Greenhow,  Thornton,  and  others. 

United-States  Mining- Laws,  1866-1872  ;  also  Revised 
Codes  now  in  force. 

United  States  (Mining  before  Californian  Discoveries)  : 
Baiubridge  (Law  of  Mines)  ;  Law  Reports  of  Louisi- 
ana, Missouri,  Georgia,  North  Carolina ;  scattered  articles 
in  periodicals  and  journals  elsewhere  referred  to ;  also 
the  United-States  Mineral  Reports. 

Venegas  :  Natural  and  Civil  History  of  California ;  also 
Noticia  de  la  Californie  (1757). 

ViGNOTTi  (A.)  :  Coup  d'ceil  sur  les  Richesses  M^tallurgiques 
du  Mexique.     1868. 

Weeks  :  Laws  of  Mines,  Minerals,  and  Water-rights.  San 
Francisco,  1877. 

Westgarth:  Victoria,  late  Australia  Felix.  Edinburgh, 
1851.  (Notes  on  Organization  of  Early  Australian 
Miners  as  compared  with  those  of  California.) 

Wilson  (Hon.  R.  A.)  :  Alcalde  System  of  California.  Cali- 
fornia Reports,  vol.  i.,  Appendix. 

Whitney  (Professor)  :  Mineral  Wealth  of  the  United  States. 
Philadelphia,  1851.  Also,  California  Geological  Re- 
ports. 

Yale  (Gregory)  :  Legal  Titles  to  Mining-claims  and  Water- 
rights  in  California.     San  Francisco,  1867. 


INDEX. 


Abandonment  of  claims,  State  decision,  275. 

Accadians,  their  libraries  and  mines,  10;  their  mana  becomes  the  Lydian 
mina,  13. 

Alcalde,  in  Cuba,  47;  Indian  rights  before  an,  61;  Indian  alcaldes,  62; 
of  towns,  75;  land-granting  privileges,  78,  80;  history  of  the  office, 
83;  alcalde  in  Mexico,  81,  85,  88;  alcalde  de  mesta  and  jueces  del 
campo,  51, 86;  alcaldes  in  colonial  California,  89-92;  under  American 
•  rule,  94;  in  San  Francisco,  98;  duties  and  powers,  103;  in  the  mines, 
109,  151,  182, 184, 185, 188, 190,  243. 

Alcalde  books,  the,  92. 

Alder  Gulch,  Montana,  laws  of,  254. 

Athens,  the  mines  a  permanent  tenantcy,  14;  directors  and  manage- 
ment, 15;  island  tribute  to  Delphos,  16. 

Arbitrators,  in  Dubuque  lead-mines,  44;  among  Mexican  miners,  54, 55; 
in  Mexican  villages,  85;  derived  from  Roman  law,  86;  arbitration 
laws  of  Springfield  district,  238;  of  Sawmill  and  Brown's  Flats,  242; 
alcalde  arbitration,  243,  246;  fees  of  arbitrators,  247,  249;  Idaho 
arbitrators,  257;  the  seven  elders  of  Portsmouth,  R.I.,  296. 

Argonauts  of  '49,  the,  133;  extravagance  and  energy,  139,  140;  the 
realms  they  conquered,  142-144;  elements  of  their  society,  148;  the 
"  mining-camp  atmosphere,"  211;  the  Argonaut  abroad,  294,  295. 

Arizona,  mining-laws  of,  282. 

Asiatics  not  allowed  to  mine,  213,  246,  248. 

Assemblies,  of  Sonoma,  Sacramento,  and  San  Francisco,  100, 130. 

Assession  court,  for  mine-bounds,  34. 

Associations,  of  miners,  112;  of  men  going  to  mines,  113, 114;  of  tunnel- 
claim  owners,  288. 

Australia,  California  miners  in,  292. 

Avery,  Benjamin  P.,  his  mining  experiences,  161. 

Bacon,  D.,  on  miners*  generosity,  156;  on  law  and  order  in  camps,  172. 

Bar-mote  court,  duties  of,  34. 

"  Bear  Flag  Battalion,"  the,  91. 

Blackwood's  Magazine,  views  of  gold-era,  154. 

Blake,  C.  T.,  his  experiences  in  the  mines,  166. 

Blast-furnace,  first  in  New  England,  38. 

Borthwick,  J.  D.,  on  organizing  instincts  of  Americans,  166. 


310  INDEX. 

Brown's  Flat,  laws  of,  242. 

Brown's  Valley,  laws  of,  249. 

Burnett,  Governor,  evidence  concerning  camps,  153. 

California,  permanence  of  local  law,  4;  similar  laws  among  ancient  and 
mediaeval  miners,  G;  Spanish  and  other  elements,  7;  three  influential 
Spanish  institutions,  58;  Arcadian  era  in  early  mines,  119;  its  decay, 
122;  waste  of  life  and  property,  159;  agricultural  future  of  mining 
counties,  268;  decisions  respecting  local  law,  271-276;  influence  upon 
the  West,  2iX);  place  of  mining-camp  in  history  of,  296. 

Camp-government,  various  forms  of,  co-existent,  187. 

Capron,  E.  S.,  his  observations,  163,  164. 

Carthaginians,  the,  6,  16. 

Charters  of  mining-towns,  209,  210;  Chase,  Chief-Justice,  decision  of, 
282. 

Chinese  camp,  laws  of,  243. 

Claim  bounds  and  notices,  Cornish,  32,  35;  ditch  required,  240,  244; 
time  limit,  241,  247;  fine  for  destroying,  242;  recording,  246;  claim- 
stakes,  249,  251;  quotations  from  claim-notices,  250. 

Claims,  work  required  to  hold,  237,  239,  243,  276;  money  expenditure 
required,  248,  252,  256;  sale  to  aliens  not  allowed,  246;  re-location, 
decision  of  Secretary  of  Interior,  275. 

Clough,  B.  D.  T.,  experience  in  organizing  camps,  168. 

Coeur  d'Alene  camps,  laws  of,  255. 

College  of  the  Mines,  the,  53. 

Colonial  miners  for  copper,  38. 

Colonization,  the  Book  of,  75. 

Colorado,  local  laws  of,  280, 

Columbia  District,  laws  of,  244-246. 

Commandante,  the,  66,  78  (note). 

Committee,  mine  worked  by  a,  38;  of  San  Francisco,  101 ;  rule  of  Rough 
and  Ready,  180;  Jurisdiction,  181;  chosen  by  Scotch-Bar  miners,  221; 
governs  Sawmill  Flat,  241;  draughts  laws  for  Alder  Gulch,  254. 

Conciliacions,  Book  of,  85. 

Congress,  The  Continental,  Act  of  1785,40;  lease-hold  system,  41;  sy- 
nopsis of  legislation  to  1865,  41  (note);  Gwin-Fremont  memorial  to, 
128;  Act  of  1872,  255;  Fremont's  mineral  bill,  and  its  defeat,  279; 
Act  of  1866  and  Revised  Statutes,  284,  285. 

Connecticut,  Governor  Winthrop's  mine  in,  38. 

Conness  report  to  the  Senate,  283. 

Conventionary  tenants,  their  enfranchisement,  34  (note). 

Conveyance  of  mineral  lands,  often  verbal,  274. 

Copper  Canon,  laws  of,  249. 

Cornwall,  its  traditions,  26;  exiles  from,  27  (note);  charter  from  King 
John,  28;  duchy  of,  33;  antiquity  of  mining-customs,  35. 

Costs  of  trial  paid  by  successful  parties,  222. 

Council  of  the  Indies,  the,  53. 


INDEX.  311 

County,  codes  of,  234,  251. 

Criminal  code  of  miners,  none  in  early  1848, 119;  forms  of  punishment, 

179. 
Cumberland,  silver-miners  of,  33.  ^ 

Dana,  R.  H.,  description  of  San-Francisco  harbor,  136. 

Deeji-diggings,  243,  247. 

Disputes  over  claims,  how  once  settled,  174. 

Districts,  their  definite  boundaries,  123;  formation  of  new  districts,  124; 

areas  of  local  authority,  125;  records  often  destroyed,  168;   funds, 

how  secured,  184;  number  of  in  the  West,  23G;  special  meetings  of, 

254,  257;  laws  of,  recognized  by  State,  272. 
Dougherty,  W.  C,  the  Yuba  camps  he  organized,  165. 
"  Dowzing  "  rod,  the,  27. 
Dry-diggings,  245. 
Dubuque,  the  lead-mine  difficulties,  43;   laws  of  the  lead-miners,  44; 

criminal  jurisprudence,  45. 

Eagle  Creek  camp,  Idaho,  255,  267. 

Egyptians,  their  ancient  gold-workings,  11. 

Equality  of  miners  in  early  camps,  110,  114,  235  (note). 

Estudillo,  first  alcalde  of  Dolores,  98. 

Exploration  shaft  sunk  on  Main  Street,  Nevada,  264. 

Folk-moots  and  their  development,  2;  early  English,  23;  Cornish  Guiri- 
mears,  26;  meetings  of  Cumberland  miners,  33;  folk-moots  of  the 
Sierras,  125,  176. 

Forcible  entry  of  miners  upon  agricultural  property,  263. 

Forfeiture  of  claims,  168,  240,  243,  252,  274. 

French  Camp,  laws  of,  247. 

Fuero  Juzr/o,  the  Gothic  code,  18. 

Gambling,  legalized,  136  (note);  at  Kennebec  Hill,  245. 

Germany,  its  mining-history  linked  with  great  national  events,  19; 
Hartz  customs  and  early  mining-freedom,  20;  mining-codes,  21; 
views  of  Professor  Raymond,  24;  German  miners  in  Cornwall,  27; 
Germanic  ideas  at  the  foundation  of  local  American  codes,  277,  278. 

Gold,  its  permanence,  12;  its  discovery  in  California,  108;  its  abun- 
dance, 115,  119;  shadows  of  gold-search,  159. 

Gold-rushes,  140,  255,  289. 

Gold  Spring  Camp,  laws  of,  244, 

Grass  Valley,  Hungry  Convention  of,  226;  early  days  in  the  camp,  171, 
263. 

Ground-rent  for  mineral  lands  suggested,  114;  licenses  and  other  meth- 
ods, 116. 

Ground-sluicing,  in  ancient  Spain,  16. 

Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  the  tT©aty  of,  107. 


312  INDEX. 

Helper,  Hinton  R.,  his  supremely  pessimistic  view  of  California,  159. 
Highway  destroyed  by  miners,  instance  of,  265. 
Hospital  established  by  Tuolumne  miners,  207. 
Hounds,  The,  suppression  of)  136. 

Hydraulic  mining,  not  always  destructive,  263,  267;  supreme  court 
decision  concerning,  268. 

Idaho,  mining-laws  of,  281. 
Illinois  District,  Colorado,  laws  of,  280. 
"  Inchoate  title  "  to  mines  in  Upper  Louisiana,  43. 
Injunction,  writs  of,  issued  by  justice  of  the  peace,  201. 
Institutional  history,  its  proper  field,  2,  3;  the  link  between  English 
and  German  mining-law,  27;  true  place  of  the  mining-camp  in,  29i. 

Jackass  Gulch,  laws  of,  237. 

Jackson  Creek  Camp,  its  court  of  appeals,  193-196. 

Jacksonville  Camp,  laws  of,  247. 

Jamestown  District,  laws  of,  240. 

Johnson,  T.  J.,  darker  views  of  camp-life,  167. 

Jury  in  mining-camps,  184. 

Justice  of  the  peace  in  the  mines  in  1850  and  1851, 199;  Placerville  and 
Nevada  justices,  201;  records  of  a  court  in  Tuolumne,  202,203;  juris- 
diction of,  279. 

Kadi,  type  of  the  early  alcalde,  83. 

Kennebec  Hill,  early  camp  of,  245. 

Kotzebue,  visit  with  Chamisso  to  San  Francisco,  136. 

Lancaster  District,  South  Carolina,  its  rent  system,  39. 

Lander's  Bar,  mining-suit,  200. 

Land-tenure,  writers  upon  primitive,  2;  by  "  turfe  and  twigge,"  31; 
holdings  "in  socage,"  34;  by  "squatter  associations,"  44;  of  two 
kinds  in  Mexico,  65;  ancient  English,  233;  among  American  miners, 
234. 

Land-titles,  French  and  Spanish,  in  Louisiana  province,  41;  Indian 
rights,  42;  a  conflict  of  races,  45;  completed  by  alcalde  delivery, 
103;  laws  of  land  among  miners,  233,  235,  241,  243,  249,  273. 

Law,  American  system  of  mining,  4,  5;  local  and  State  jurisprudence, 
6;  origin  Germanic,  18,  22;  colonial  view  of  mining,  37;  trial  of  lease 
system,  40;  knowledge  of  French  and  Spanish  essential,  42,  56; 
Mexican  system,  52,  57;  law  the  preservation  of  history,  270;  mass 
of  mining,  276. 

Law,  Mexican  civil,  its  sources,  50;  its  nature,  51;  its  weakness,  52; 
mining-law,  principles  of,  56;  recent  changes  in,  57. 

Laws  of  miners  lacking  in  ancient  world,  17;  Germanic,  developed  from 
"mark-system,"  20;  Mendip  District  customs,  Cornwall,  29;  claim- 
notices,  tin-bounds,  and  mining-freedom,  30;  transfers  of  lands  and 
claims,  31;  underlying  principles  of  local  law,  277;  gradual  codifica- 
tion, 286;  diffusion  through  mining  excitements,  289-293. 


INDEX.  313 

Lawyers,  frontier  prejudice  against,  120;  Balboa's  denunciation  of,  121. 

Literature  of  California,  influence  of  mining-era  upon,  297. 

Lord,  Dr.  John  C,  on  the  American  pioneer,  231. 

Loreto,  the  mission  of,  59. 

Louisiana,  land-grants  in,  42. 

Lydia,  as  link  between  Asia  and  Europe,  13. 

Lynch-law,  cases  of,  227,  228;  in  Montana,  230. 

Lynch,  Rev.  W.  F.  B.,  his  account  of  camp-organization,  169. 

Mark,  the,  of  Barcelona,  83. 

Marryat,  Frank,  life  in  the  mines,  153. 

Mason,  Col.,  his  visit  to  the  mines,  115. 

Mayor  of  San  Francisco,  linked  with  alcalde-rule,  102. 

Mexican  grants,  illegal,  92. 

Miners'  meetings,  previous  laws  repealed,  240,  249;  legality  of,  recog- 
nized, 272. 

Mines-royal,  definition  of,  33  (note);  rights  reserved  in  American  colo- 
nies, 37;  Spanish  crown  rights,  56. 

Mines,  statistics  of  yield,  49, 132,  146,  157. 

Mining-camps,  place  in  institutional  history,  1;  growth  and  permar 
nence,  5;  development  into  permanent  forms,  8;  Balboa's  Darien 
camp,  48;  first  California  camps,  109,  116-118;  doctrine  respecting 
debts,  126;  political  instinct  displayed  in,  135;  deserted  camps,  145; 
typical  camps,  their  appearance,  147;  rapid  growth  of,  171;  freedom 
of,  182;  linked  with  the  race  of  American  pioneers,  231;  their  defi- 
nite laws,  253;  camp-organization  still  going  on,  257,  291;  effect  on 
society,  287;  leaders  of  men  developed  in  early  camps,  294;  back- 
ground for  intellectual  development,  296. 

Mining-cities,  Midianitish,  6,  13;  of  the  middle  ages,  21. 

Mining-claims,  their  size,  44,  48, 118, 154,  162,  166,  167,  174,  237,  238,  240, 
243,  247,  248,  254,  257;  recognized  as  property,  276;  first  regulations 
concerning,  110. 

Mining-courts,  Athenian,  16;  early  Germanic,  21;  Cornish  parliaments 
and  stannary-courts,  28;  the  bar-motes,  34;  earliest  California,  125; 
akin  to  primeval  folk-moot,  177;  form  of  procedure,  178;  contrasted 
with  mob-law,  229-231;  their  varied  powers,  234. 

Mining-treaty  of  1185,  21. 

Mining-tribes,  Siberian,  6,  12;  Phrygo-Thrakians,  13;  crushed  by  Ori- 
ental despotisms,  14. 

Missions,  the,  economic  features,  management,  and  secularization,  63- 
67;  appearance  of  California  during  mission  era,  69,  70;  lands  of 
Buenos  Ayres  missions,  78. 
Monopoly  in  mines,  its  failure  at  Rough  and  Ready,  171. 
Montezuma  Camp,  laws  of,  246. 
Mormon  Diggings,  the  first  mines  there,  115. 

New  Kanaka  camp,  laws  of,  248. 


314  INDEX. 

"  New  Helvetia,"  and  Capt.  Sutter,  107. 
Nevada  City,  its  early  days,  210. 
North  San  Juan,  laws  of,  247. 

Occupation,  evidence  of,  172, 174,  246. 

Oglesby,  Governor  R.  J.,  of  Illinois,  notes  from  his  pioneer  days,  160. 

Orchard  paid  for  by  miners'  court,  266. 

Oregon,  camps  of,  191;  local  mining-laws,  282. 

Ownership  of  same  ground  for  different  purposes,  271. 

Parsons,  George  F.,  graphic  picture  of  gold-fever,  158. 

Partnership  a  sacred  bond  in  the  mines,  111. 

Patterson,  Lawson  B.,  views  in  the  mines,  162. 

Phoenicians  as  miners  and  traders,  11. 

Pilot  Hill,  laws  of,  248. 

Pioneers,  American,  their  fitness  for  self-government,  3,  231 ;  their 
contribution  the  mining-camp,  4;  views  of  a  senate  committee,  8; 
their  settlement  of  the  West,  105;  tendency  to  maltreat  the  Mexi- 
can, 218;  their  world-wide  influence,  293. 

Placers,  definition  of,  5;  early  Italian,  17;  ancient  miners  in,  18; 
placers  in  British  Isles,  25;  Cornish  tin-placers,  26,  35;  French 
Broad,  the,  39;  Santa  Maria  del  Darien,  the,  48;  California,  118. 
(See  also  "Mining-camps,"  "  Claims,"  and  "Districts.") 

Population,  statistics  of,  132, 135. 

Possessory  rights,  5,  234,  270, 

Poverty  Hill,  laws  of,  243. 

Prices  in  the  mines,  139,  161. 

Prospectors,  Grecian,  15;  Thracian  and  Gaulish,  19;  German,  20;  Corn- 
ish, 27,  34;  in  the  Southern  States,  39,  40;  in  Spanish  Mexico,  54; 
American,  140,  143,  290-294;  professional,  255. 

Public  lands,  state  decisions  regarding  miners  upon,  260. 

Pueblos,  or  free  towns,  66;  Indian  pueblos  of  New  Mexico,  72;  early  Cali- 
fornia pueblos,  74;  town  council,  75;  lands,  and  how  granted,  76,  77. 

Quarrels  in  the  camps,  126. 

Quartz  of  ancient  Nubia,  11. 

Quartz-claims,  California  laws  of,  251,  252;  laws  of  in  Nevada,  253; 

according   to   United-States   mining-laws,    255 ;    "  inclined "    and 

"square"  locations,  278. 
Quartz-mining,  beginning  of,  in  California,  251. 

"  Ramona,"  its  realism,  76. 

Recorder  of  claims,  168;  fees  of,  239,  246,  254;  to  examine  work  done, 

252;  time  allowed  prospector,  256. 
Redding,  B.  B.,  269. 
Reese  River,  district  of,  laws  of,  281. 
Registry,  book  of,  238. 
"  Revolution  of  February,"  the,  106. 


INDEX.  315 

Rights  of  miners  to  enter  on  agricultural  land??,  241 ;  local  laws  upon, 
259;  State  acts  and  decisions  concerning,  200;  illustrations  of,  262- 
26G:  the  famous  "  Slickens  "  suits,  267;  State  decisions  concerning 
rights,  273. 

Riley,  General,  leaves  local  government  to  the  miners,  117  ;  reports 
favorably  upon  the  camps,  150, 151. 

Riparian  rights,  256,  271,  275. 

Rodeos  of  Spanish- Americans,  87. 

Roman,  Anton,  his  recollections  of  Siskiyou  camps,  219. 

Romans,  the,  in  Spain,  17;  wreck  of  their  system,  18. 

Ryan,  evidence  concerning  camps,  150. 

San  Francisco,  settlement,  98;  alcalde  government,  100;  harbor  of,  136; 

society  in,  137 ;  trying  conditions  of  business,  138. 
San  Jose,  convention  of,  48;  and  its  results,  129. 
Sargent,  Hon.  A.  A.,  on  the  miners'  justice  of  the  peace,  199. 
Serra,  Father  Junipero,  60. 
School  of  mines,  need  of  a  national,  286. 
Scotch  Bar,  a  famous  mining-case,  220-224. 
Scythian  tribes,  11. 
Shaw's  Flat,  laws  of,  241. 

Sheriff  of  the  miners,  183;  assessed  by  an  alcalde,  186. 
Social  instinct,  the,  its  three  forms,  10. 
Socialism  of  the  mines,  110,  117,  119,  235. 
Sonoranian  camp,  brought  under  alcalde  rule,  127  ;  foreign  invasion 

repelled,  141;  mayor  and  town  council,  207;  trouble  with  Mexicans, 

213-217. 
Southern  mines,  law  and  order  in,  217. 
Spanish  Bar,  customs  of,  174. 

Spanish  colonies,  their  civil  government,  50,  51;  its  weakness,  52, 
Spanish  colonists,  their  first  mining-camp,  4§. 
Spanish  "  conquistadores,"  the,  49. 
Spanish  will,  primitive  form  of,  93.. 
Stannary  parliament,  the,  28. 
State  of  Rough  and  Ready,  the,  225. 

State  of  California,  influence  of  returned  miners,  127-131. 
State  convention  from  mining-districts  suggested,  253. 
State  courts  and  Territorial,  on  miners'  local  law,  271,  273,  274,  281,  282. 
Stewart,  a  Nevada  senator,  speech  of,  283. 
Stillman,  J.  B.,  evidence  upon  the  camps,  156. 
St.  Vrain  concession,  the,  43. 

Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  Chief- Justice  Chase's  decision,  282. 
Sweetland  District,  laws  of,  247. 
Sword-oath,  brothers  of  the,  23. 

"  Tailings,"  275. 

Tax  on  foreign  miners,  th«,  212,  276. 


316  INDEX. 

Taylor,  Bayard,  evidence  concerning  camps,  151. 

Tewington,  manor  of,  its  caption  of  seizin,  34. 

Theft  in  camps,  its  peculiar  turpitude,  119,  126;  its  punishment,  179, 
180,  231. 

Tin-bounds  and  toll-tin  taxes,  30;  landmarks  of  bounds,  31;  classifica- 
tion of  miners,  34. 

Towns,  governed  by  miners,  206, 210;  vacant  lots  seized  for  city  use,  208. 

Township  of  California,  the,  171. 

Transfers  of  claims  not  allowed,  174. 

Tribunal  of  the  Mexican  miners,  52;  its  paternal  supervision,  54;  trans- 
fer of  its  power,  57. 

Trinity  County,  code  of  a  camp  in,  248. 

Truro,  miners'  parliament  of  1752,  29. 

Tuttletown  District,  laws  of,  242. 

Tunnel  claims,  239,  246,  248. 

Ugarte,  his  missionary  ship,  60. 
Union  of  claims  for  assessment  work,  256. 
United-States  patent,  lands  held  by,  202. 
Umpire,  in  French  camp,  how  supported,  247. 

"  Verbal  Processes,"  Book  of,  during  Spanish  era,  92. 

Vigilantes  of  Montana,  their  work,  230-231. 

Village  lauds,  fourfold  division  of,  74. 

Virginia,  iron-mine,  37;  gold-placers,  39. 

Visidados,  the,  51. 

Vocabulary  of  Cornish  miners,  the,  27. 

Washington  Camp,  growth  of,  171. 

Water-ditch  company  organized  by  miners,  242,  246. 

Williams,  Samuel,  of  the  ^'  San  Francisco  Bulletin,"  161. 

Winthrop,  Gov.  John,  mining-license,  37. 

Winthrop,  Theodore,  glimpses  of  frontiersmen,  156. 

Women  in  California  mines,  137. 

Writs  of  camp  alcaldes,  183. 

Yerba  Buena,  its  growth  from  pueblo  to  metropolis,  79-80,  97. 
Yorktown  District,  laws  of,  243. 
Yuba,  early  camps  near  the,  165, 174. 
Yukon,  the,  explored  by  miners,  291,  293. 


IMPORTANT   WORKS 

BY 

NOAH   PORTER,  D.D.,  LL.D., 


PRESIDENT  OF  YALE  COLLEGE. 


THE    HUMAN    INTELLECT: 

WITH   AN    INTRODUCTION    UPON   PSYCHOLOGY  AND   THE 
HUMAN    SOUL. 

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ELEMENTS  OF  INTELLECTUAL  PHILOSOPHY: 

A  MANUAL  FOR  SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES. 

Abridged  from  "The  Human  Intellect."     One  volume,  crown  8vo,  nearly 
600  pages,  cloth.     Price,  $3.00. 

President  Porter's  great  work  upon  the  human  intellect  at  once  secured 
for  him  a  foremost  place  among  living  metaphysicians.  The  demand  for 
this  work  —  even  in  its  expensive  form  —  as  a  text-book  has  induced  the 
preparation  of  this  abridged  and  cheaper  edition,  which  contains  all  the 
matter  of  the  larger  work  necessary  for  use  in  the  class-room. 

"This  abridgment  is  very  well  done,  the  statements  being  terse  and  perspicuous."  —  iV^7«- 
York  World. 

"  Presents  the  leading  facts  of  intellectual  science,  from  the  author's  point  of  view,  with  clear- 
ness and  vigor."  —  Neiu-Yor/i  Tribune. 

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OUTLINES   OF   PRIMITIVE  BELIEF 

among  the  Indo-European  Eaces, 

By  CHARLES  FRANCIS  KEARY,  M.A., 

o/  the   British  Jiluseum. 


One  vol.  crown  8vo.,         -  -  -  -         $2.50. 

Mr.  Keary's  Book  is  not  simply  a  series  of  essays  in  comparative  myth- 
ology, it  is  a  history  of  the  legendary  beliefs  of  the  Indo-European  races 
drawn  from  their  language  and  literature.  Mr.  Keary  has  no  pet  theory  to 
establish  ;  he  proceeds  in  the  spirit  of  the  inquirer  after  truth  simply,  and 
his  book  is  a  rare  example  of  patient  research  and  unbiased  opinion  in  a  most 
fascinating  field  of  exploration. 

"  We  have  an  important  and  singularly  interesting  contribution  to  our  knowledge 
of  pre-historic  creeds  in  the  Outlines  of  J>re-historic  Belif/ ainotig  the  Indo-European 
Races ^  by  Mr.  C.  F.  Keary,  of  the  British  Museum.  No  contemporary  essayist  in 
the  field  of  comparative  mythology — and  we  do  not  except  Max  Muller — has  known 
how  to  embellish  and  illumine  a  work  of  scientific  aims  and  solid  worth  with  so  much 
imaginative  power  and  literary  charm.  There  are  chapters  in  this  volume  that  are  as 
persuasive  as  a  paper  of  Matthew  Arnold's,  as  delightful  as  a  poem.  The  author  is 
not  only  a  trained  inquirer  but  he  presents  the  fruits  of  his  research  with  the  skill  and 
felicity  of  an  artist." — Nenv  York  ^un. 

"Mr.  Keary,  having  unusual  advantages  in  the  British  Museum  for  studying 
comparative  philology,  has  gone  through  all  the  authorities  concerning  Hindoo, 
Greek,  early  Norse,  modern  European,  and  other  forms  of  faith  in  their  early  stages, 
and  there  has  never  before  been  so  thorough  and  so  captivating  an  exposition  of  them 
as  that  given  in  this  book." — Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  PRE-HISTORIC  STUDY. 
Edited  by  C,  F.   KEARY,  M.A., 

OF   THE   BRITISH    MUSEUM. 


One  Volume,  12mo.,  -  -  -  $1.25. 

This  work  treats  successively  of  the  earliest  traces  of  man  in  the  re- 
mains discovered  in  caves  o  elsewhere  in  different  parts  of  Europe ;  of 
language,  its  growth,  and  the  story  it  tells  of  the  pre  historic  users  of  it ;  of 
the  races  of  mankind,  early  social  life,  the  religions,  mythologies,  and  folk- 
tales of  mankind,  and  of  the  history  of  writing.  A  list  of  authorities  is 
appended,  and  an  index  has  been  prepared  specially  for  this  edition. 


"The  book  may  be  heartily  recommended  as  probably  the  most  satisfactory 
summary  of  the  subject  that  there  is." — Nation. 

"  A  fascinating  manual,  without  a  vestige  of  the  dullness  usually  charged  against 
scientific  works.  .  .  ,  In  its  way,  the  work  is  a  model  of  what  a  popular  scientific 
work  should  be  \  it  is  readable,  it  is  easily  understood,  and  its  style  is  simple,  yet  dig- 
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THEBEGINNINGSOFHISTORY 

According  to  the  Bible  and  the  Traditions  of  the  Oriental  Peoples.  From 
the  Creation  of  Man  to  the  Deluge.  By  Francois  Lenormant, 
Professor  of  Archoeology  at  the  National  Library  of  France,  etc. 
(Translated  from  the  Second  French  Edition).  With  an  introduction 
by  Francis  Brown,  Associate  Professor  in  Biblical  Philology, 
Union  Theological  Seminary. 


1  Vol,,  12nio,  600  pages,         -  -  -        $2,50. 


"  What  should  we  see  in  the  first  chapters  of  Genesis  ?  "  writes  M.  Lenor- 
mant in  his  preface— "A  revealed  narrative,  or  a  human  tradition,  gathered 
up  for  preservation  by  inspired  writers  as  the  oldest  memory  of  their  race  ? 
This  is  the  problem  which  I  have  been  led  to  examine  by  comparing  the  nar- 
rative of  the  Bible  with  those  which  were  current  among  the  civilized  peo- 
ples of  most  ancient  origin  by  which  Israel  was  surrounded,  and  from  th-e 
midst  of  which  it  came." 

The  book  is  not  more  erudite  than  it  is  absorbing  in  its  interest.  It  has 
had  an  immense  influence  upon  contemporary  thought ;  and  has  approached 
its  task  with  an  unusual  mingling  of  the  reverent  and  the  scientific  spirit. 


"  That  the  '  Oriental  Peoples  '  had  legends  on  the  Creation,  the  Fall  of  Man,  the 
Deluge,  and  other  primitive  events,  there  is  no  denying.  Nor  is  there  any  need  of 
denying  it,  as  this  admirable  volume  shows.  Mr.  Lenormant  is  not  only  a  believer 
in  revelation,  but  a  devout  confessor  of  what  came  by  Moses  ;  as  well  as  of  what  came 
by  Christ.  In  this  explanation  of  Chaldean,  Babylonian,  Assyrian  and  Phenician 
tradition,  he  discloses  a  prodigality  of  thought  and  skill  allied  to  great  variety  of  pur- 
suit, and  diligent  manipulation  of  what  he  has  secured.  He  '  spoils  the  Egyptians  ' 
by  boldly  using  for  Christian  purposes  materials,  which,  if  left  unused,  might  be 
turned  against  the  credibility  of  the  Mosaic  records. 

"•  From  the  mass  of  tradition  here  examined  it  would  seem  that  if  these  ancient 
legends  have  a  common  basis  of  truth,  the  first  part  of  Genesis  stands  more  generally 
related  to  the  religious  history  of  mankind,  than  if  it  is  taken  primarily  as  one  account, 
by  one  man,  to  one  people.  .  .  .  While  not  claiming  for  the  author  the 
setting  forth  of  the  absolute  truth,  nor  the  drawing  from  what  he  has  set  forth  the 
soundest  conclusions,  we  can  assure  our  readers  of  a  diminishing  fear  of  learned  un- 
belief after  the  perusal  of  this  work." — The  Neiv  Englander, 

"  With  reference  to  the  book  as  a  whole  it  may  be  said  :  (i).  That  nowhere  else  can 
one  obtain  the  mass  of  information  upon  this  subject  in  so  convenient  a  form;  (2).  That 
the  investigation  is  conducted  in  a  truly  scientific  manner,  and  with  an  eminently 
Christian  spirit  ;  (3).  That  the  results,  tnough  very  different  from  those  in  common 
acceptance,  contain  much  that  is  interesting  and  to  say  the  least,  plausible  ;  (^).  That 
the  author  while  he  seems  in  a  number  of  cases  to  be  injudicious  in  his  state, 
meats  and  conclusions,  has  done  work  in  investigation  and  in  working  out  details  that 
will  be  of  service  to  all,  whether  general  readers  or  specialists.  ' — The  Hebrew 
Student. 

"  The  work  is  one  that  deserves  to  be  studied  by  all  students  of  ancient  history,  and 
in  particular  by  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  whose  office  requires  them  to  interpret  the 
Scriptures,  and  who  ought  not  to  be  ignorant  of  the  latest  and  most  interesting  con- 
tribution of  science  to  the  elucidation  to  the  sacred  volume."— iV(f7w  York  Tribune, 


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EEISSIIE  IN  NEW  BINDING,  OLOTH,  GILT  TOP. 
Reprinted  from  Revised  London  Editions  by  arrangement  with  the  Author. 

CHiPS   FROM   A   GERMAN  WORKSHOP. 

Vol.     I.  Essays  on  the  Science  of  Religion. 

Vol.   II.  Essays  on  Mythology,  Traditions,  and  Customs. 

Vol.  III.  LiTERATUKK,  Biography,  and  Antiquities. 

Vol.  IV.  Comparative  Philology,  Mythology,  etc. 

Vol     V.  Miscellaneous,     y'usi  Published 
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reader  to  the  volumes  themselves.     He   will   find  m  them  a  body  of  combined  entertain- 
ment and  instruction  such  as  has  hardly  ever  been  brought  together  in  so  compact  a  lorm." 


LECTURES  ON    THE  SCIENCE   OF   LANGUAGE. 

First  Series  : — Comprising  those  delivered  in  April,  May,  and  June, 
x86i.     One  vol.,  crown  8vo,  cloth,  $2.00. 

Second  Series: — Comprising  those  delivered  in  February,  March, 
April,  and  May,  1863.  With  thirty- one  illustrations.  One  vol.,  crown  8vo, 
cloth,  $3.00. 

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gation, it  is  ample,  both  to  satisfy  the  desire  of  those  who  wish  to  get  the  latest  results 
of  philosophy,  and  to  stimulate  the  curiosity  of  whoever  wishes  to  go  further  and  deeper. 
It  is,  by  far,  the  best  and  clearest  summing  up  of  the  present  condition  of  the  science  of 
language  that  we  have  ever  seen,  while  the  liveliness  of  style  and  the  variety  and  fresl^ 
ness  of  illustration  make  it  exceed  ingly  interesting. 


LECTURES   ON    THE    SCIENCE  OF   RELIGION. 

WITH  PAPERS  ON  BUDDHISM,  AND  A  TRANSLATION  OF 
THE  DHAMMAPADA,  OR  PATH  OF  VIRTUE.  By  F.  Max 
MOllbr,  M.A.     One  vol.,  crown  8vo,  cloth,  $2.00. 

From  the  Chicago   Evening  Journal.        .  . 

•*The  thoroughness  of  its  method,  the  vigor  and  clearness  of  its  disaissions,  and 
the  extensive  learning  wrought  into  the  text  of  the  work,  give  it  the  high  character  which 
commands  for  such  a  production  the  rank  and  authority  of  a  standard." 


THE   ORIGIN   AND    GROWTH   OF   RELIGION, 

As  illustrated  by  the  Religions  of  India.     By  F.  Max  Mdller.    One  vol, 

crown  8vo.,  cloth,  $2.00. 
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AUTHORIZED  AMERICAN  EDITIONS. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND, 

Prom  the   Pall  of  Woolsey  to  the  Death  of  Elizabeth, 


TSJB  COMPLETE  WOBK  JJV  TWELVE  VOLVMES, 


By  JAMES  ANTHONY   FROUDE,  M.  A. 


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almost  new  to  the  general  reader.  We  close  his  pages  with  unfeigned  re- 
gret, and  we  bid  him  good  speed  on  his  noble  mission  of  exploring  the 
sources  of  English  history  in  one  of  its  most  remarkable  periods.  —  Brii* 
ish  Quarterly  /Review. 

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SHORT  STUDIES  ON  GREAT  SUBJECTS. 

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THE    ENGLISH    IN    IRELAND 

During  the  Eighteenth  Century. 
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Final  Causes. 

MEMBER   OF   THE    FRENCH    ACADEMY. 

Translated  from  the  Second  French  Edition.     With  a  Preface  by 
Robert  Flint,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


One   Vol.    8vo.,       -       -       -       Price,    $2.50 


"  Here  is  a  book  to  which  we  give  the  heartiest  welcome  and  the  study  of 
which — not  reading  merely — we  commend  to  all  who  are  seeking  to  solve  the  question 
whether  the  universe  is  the  product  of  mind  or  of  chance.  .  .  .  Perhaps  no  living 
author  has  been  more  thoroughly  trained  by  previous  studies  for  the  work  done  here 
than  Mr.  Janet;  and  no  one  is  better  fitted  for  it  by  original  gifts." — Universalist 
Quarterly. 

"  I  regard  'Janet's  Final  Causes'  as  incomparably  the  best  thing  in  litera- 
ture on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every 
man  who  has  any  interest  in  the  present  phases  of  the  theistic  problem.  I  am  very 
glad  that  you  have  brought  out  an  edition  for  the  American  public  and  at  a  price 
that  makes  the  work  acceptable  to  ministers  and  students.  I  have  commended  it  to 
my  classes  in  the  seminary,  and  make  constant  use  of  it  in  my  instructions." — From 
a  letter  of  Professor  Francis  L.  Patton^  D.  D. 

''  I  am  delighted  that  you  have  published  the  translation  of  Janet's  '  Final 
Causes '  in  an  improved  form  and  at  a  price  which  brings  it  within  the  reach  of  many 
who  desire  to  possess  it.  It  is  in  my  opinion  the  most  suggestive  treatise  on  this  im- 
portant topic  which  is  accessible  in  our  language,  and  is  admirably  fitted  to  meet 
many  of  the  misleading  and  superficial  tendencies  of  the  philosophy  of  a  popular, 
but  superficial  school." — Extract  from  a  letter  of  Noah  Porter,  D.D.,  LL.D.^ 
President  of  Yale  College. 

'^  The  most  powerful  argument  that  has  yet  appeared  against  the  unwar- 
ranted conclusions  which  Haeckel  and  others  would  draw  from  the  Darwinian 
Theory.  That  teleology  and  evolution  are  not  mutually  exclusive  theories,  M. 
Janet  has  demonstrated  with  a  vigor  and  keenness  that  admit  of  no  reply." — The 
Examiner. 

"  No  book  of  greater  importance  in  the  realm  of  theological  philosophy  has 
appeared  during  the  past  twenty  years  than  Paul  Janet's  '  Final  Causes.'  The 
central  idea  of  the  work  is  one  which  the  whole  course  of  scientific  discussion  has 
made  the  burning  question  of  the  day,  viz :  That  final  causes  are  not  inconsistent 
with  physical  causation." — Independent. 


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The  Religions  of  the  Ancient  World 

Including  Egypt,  Assyria  and  Babylonia,  Persia,  India, 
Phoenicia,  Etruria,  Greece,  Rome. 

By   GEORGE    RAWLINSON,    M.A. 


One  Volume,  12mo,  _  -  -  -       $1,00, 

Uniform  with  "  The  Origin  of  Nations/^ 

•  Canon  Rawlinson's  great  learning  and  his  frequent  contribu- 
tions to  the  history  of  ancient  nations  qualify  him  to  treat  the 
subject  of  this  volume  with  a  breadth  of  view  and  accuracy  of 
knowledge  that  few  other  writers  can  lay  claim  to.  The  treatise 
is  not  intended  to  give  an  exhaustive  review  of  ancient  religions, 
but  to  enable  the  students  of  history  to  form  a  more  accurate 
apprehension  of  the  inner  life  of  the  ancient  world. 

"  The  historical  studies  which  have  elevated  this  author's  works  to  the 
highest  position  have  made  him  familiar  with  those  beliefs  which  once  di- 
rected the  world's  thought ;  and  he  has  done  literature  no  better  service 
than  in  this  little  volume.  .  .  .  The  book  is,  then,  to  be  accepted 
as  a  sketch,  and 'as  the  most  trustworthy  sketch  in  our  language,  of  the  re- 
ligions discussed," — iV.  Y.  Christian  Advocate. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  NATIONS 

By  Professor  GEORGE  RAWLINSON,  M.A. 


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The  first  part  of  this  book,  Early  Civilizations,  discusses  the 
antiquity  of  civilization  in  Egypt  and  the  other  early  nations  of 
the  East.  The  second  part,  Ethnic  Affinities  in  the  Ancient 
World,  is  an  examination  of  the  ethnology  of  Genesis,  showing 
its  accordance  with  the  latest  results  of  modern  ethnographical 
science. 

"  An  attractive  volume,  which  is  well  worthy  of  the  careful  consideration 
of  every  reader." — Observer. 

''  A  work  of  genuine  scholarly  excellence  and  a  useful  offset  to  a  great 
deal  of  the  superficial  current  literature  on  such  subjects." 

—  Con,^regationalist. 

"  Dr.  Rawlmson  brings  to  this  discussion  long  and  patient  r'-search,  a 
vast  knowledge  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  what  has  been  written  on 
both  sides  of  the  q\iestion."—BrooJi/yn  Uniori-Argus. 

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A    NEW    EDITION. 

Books    and   Reading. 

BY 

NOAH    PORTER,  LL.D.,  President  of  Yale  College. 

With  an  appendix  giving  valuable  directions  for  courses  oj 

readings  prepared  by  James  M.  Hubbard,  late 

of  the   Boston   Public   Library, 


1    vol.,    cro^Arn   8vo.,  -  -  -  $2. GO. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  name  any  American  better  qualified 
than  President  Porter  to  give  advice  upon  the  important 
question  of  *'  What  to  Read  and  How  to  Read."  His 
acquaintance  with  the  whole  range  of  English  literature  is 
most  thorough  and  exact,  and  his  judgments  are  eminently 
candid  and  mature.  A  safer  guide,  in  short,  in  all  literary 
matters,  it  would   be   impossible   to   find. 


*'  The  great  value  of  the  book  lies  not  in  prescribing  courses  of  readbg,  but  'n  a 
discussion  of  principles,  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  valuable  systematic  reading." 

— The  Christian  Standard, 

"Young  people  who  wish  to  know  what  to  read  and  how  to  read  it,  or  how  to  pursue 
a  particular  course  of  reading,  cannot  do  better  than  begin  with  this  book,  which  is  a 
practical  guide  to  the  whole  domain  of  literature,  and  is  full  of  wise  suggestions  for  the 
improvement  of  the  vcaxA.^''— 'Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

"President  Porter  himself  treats  of  all  the  leading  departments  of  literature  of  course 
with  abundant  knowledge,  and  with  what  is  of  equal  importance  to  him,  with  a  very 
definite  and  serious  purpose  to  be  of  service  to  inexperienced  readers.  There  is  no  better 
or  more  interesting  book  of  its  kind  now  within  their  reach." — Boston  Advertiser. 

"  President  Noah  Porter's  '  Books  and  Reading '  is  far  the  most  practical  and  satis- 
factory treatise  on  the  subject  that  has  been  published.  It  not  only  answers  the  qnestions 
'What  books  shall  I  read?'  and  'How  shall  I  read  them?'  but  it  supplies  a  large  and 
well-arranged  catalogue  under  appropriate  heads,  sufficient  for  a  large  family  or  a  small 
public  V^ix^ixy:^— Boston  Zion^s  Herald. 


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r 


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